The Twilight Zone reigns. Left is right; good is bad; sane is insane. In this topsy turvy mindset the Supreme Court of Alabama — a “pro-life” state — decided that frozen embryos are children, thereby threatening in vitro fertilization, a procedure designed to increase births. “Embryo justice” is the mantra.
In Kansas, which allows a Wild West access to guns, the shooting after the Super Bowl victory prompted not a call for stricter gun laws, but a call to curb gun-fire after athletic triumphs. An outbreak of measles in Miami spurred the state’s public health honcho to say that unvaccinated children could attend school. In our democracy, “patriots” embrace a despot who spurns democracy, while evangelical Christians embrace an adulterer, a cheat, a misanthrope. Rod Serling could not have written better scenarios.
The solons in Tennessee, though, have produced the eeriest Twilight Zone episode (aired by ProPublica, Feb. 15,“The Year After a Denied Abortion”). Watch poverty, abetted by government, destroy a family. A 31 year-old mother, three years sober, married to a man also in recovery, was living at home with a 3-month old baby; three other children were in foster care because she left them alone in the car while at a vape store. She learned she was pregnant. Because the fetus was implanted in scar tissue from the previous caesarean, her uterus might rupture during the pregnancy, and the baby might be born dangerously premature. Physicians advised abortion. But the US Supreme Court scuttled Roe v Wade, which offered women the chance for an abortion. Instead, the pro-life enthusiasts on the court sent the decision to the states. And Tennessee proudly passed one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation. The state said “no” to this mother, “no” to her physician. The mother couldn’t pay to travel out of state, and she feared losing access to her three children if she left Tennessee for an abortion. She gave birth.
At his point, her story spiraled downward.
Pre-pregnancy, the couple had earned enough to pay for ($1,400/month) an apartment with mice and erratic heating, in a neighborhood with addicts, a car ($550), and the lawyers’ fees to regain custody of the three children in state custody. They were setting aside money to help with the newborn.
Her uterus did rupture, and the tiny baby remained in intensive care for months, on a breathing tube. The state and federal government via Medicaid paid the huge hospital tab.
But the day the mother left the hospital, she was arrested. She posted a $6,000 bond, plus agreed to pay an attorney $6,000 in increments. Poof! went their savings.
From there, the family descended into debt.
First, the hospital was an hour away. The free housing nearby designated for parents of ill children was full. The parents juggled jobs and an old car to make the trek as often as they could to see this very sick baby. Once the baby returned home, the baby came with a feeding tube and a breathing machine. The baby needed to see not just a pediatrician, but an ophthalmologist, a lung specialist and an occupational therapist. Any help on the way? No. (The hospital sent a nurse to help with the feeding tube, but the nurse arrived too late). The federal government technically allowed her $30/month short-term disability for a baby weighing less than 2 pounds, but she could not figure out the paperwork. Parental leave? No. No states that ban abortion require paid parental leave. Any subsidized child care? No. The mother quit her job to take care of the family. The baby returned twice to the hospital. The mother decided not to apply for unemployment: she had earlier applied, but didn’t understand the rules, ended up paying back some of the money. As for disability pay after her surgery, that was considered short-term, so she was not eligible.
The baby came off the machines — a “pro-life” victory: a dangerously premature infant can survive. Life, however, got harder for this family. Both parents worked long hours. They found an inexpensive young babysitter to cope with the toddlers. Experienced child care would have taken most of their income. But the husband needed a reliable truck for his job installing vinyl siding. No bank would loan them money, so they turned to high-interest credit cards. The debt mounted.
The next crisis: an arrest warrant for the mother. After she was booked, she was quickly released, to return home to a sick baby. She pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, would be on probation for a year. Eventually the family, unable to pay the rent on their current apartment, moved. But wait: the mother’s mother, along with her husband, both former addicts, moved in. The marriage disintegrated. The mother stayed off drugs (a positive drug test would make it hard for her to regain custody of the children in foster care)., but turned once again to alcohol.
As for the government’s helping hand? It didn’t help. Housing subsidies? Food stamps? Child care? Income subsidies? Unemployment insurance? Legal aid? Didn’t happen. Tennessee spent thousands of dollars to save a newborn, but destroyed the troubled family that was supposed to nurture that newborn. In yet another Twilight Zone irony, “pro-life” can mean “anti-family.”
Joan Retsinas is a sociologist who writes about health care in Providence, R.I. Email joan.retsinas@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2024
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