Denial in Minnesota

[preciousdove]

Need some help thinking this through. There are two stories that happened in Minnesota this week. The first a proposed Social Studies standard that ignores both American's past bad behavior and any attempt to solve social problems. The second a 21 year old Hudson WI, woman who unsuccessfully, gave birth to a 9 lb+ baby in her apartment and who continued the denial of her pregnancy as she sought help for herself at a local hosptial. I believe that both are the same. The woman, of course, is being charged with homocide even though it is thought that the baby died from complications related to the birth.

For those who have never given birth, the third phase of labor and even continuing after the birth is for many otherwise normal women a time of mental instability. I don't know the exact mechanism but I do know that many do things like hide under beds, attack the nurses and doctors and declare they have changed their minds and are not going to have the baby. Being alone during this phase is dangerous for both the mother and the baby but a woman who is in denail about her pregnancy and seeks no health care or help from anyone is predesposed to becoming totally irrational during that time. I personally feel that although the person should be held reponsible they need the help they did not get earlier to deal with the situation. She didn't want the baby but she did not get an abortion because her denail was her solution. Bottom line she was not sane.

Both society and families raise girls to deny they did "bad" things and that there were unintended consequenses and if they deny they did the bad thing it will go away. We are now poised to decide make this denial public policy. In Europe where sexuality is treated as natural and good you do not see this behavior to the extent it is here. We stopped sending our wayward girls away to have unplanned babies but we gave them no alternatives. Planeed parenthood and community clinics are considered evil. Denial is considered the responsible thing to do.

I would like to write a letter to the editor about this but I cannot seem to find the few words that would make this clear. Am I not thinking straight?

[asjr]

1. denial

I think you have done a very good job with what you have posted. Why not send that? So often people get indicted on what someone else wants to believe without going into any detail. I find that a failing in our justice system, because no man can understand. Well, maybe most men can understand up to a point. But this woman definitely sounds unbalanced. Pregnancy can do that.