Summary

Texas has seen a spike in abandoned newborns since its abortion ban, with some infants found dead in dumpsters or ditches.

Critics link the rise to reduced access to abortion, cuts to prenatal care, underfunded safe haven programs, and fear of deportation among undocumented women.

Texas Republicans have resisted funding awareness campaigns for safe haven laws, instead allocating $165 million to crisis pregnancy centers that prioritize deterring abortion over aiding women.

The lack of support has drawn condemnation, highlighting the broader consequences of restrictive reproductive policies.

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[+] [email protected] -16 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Don’t blame the parent that didn’t want the child when they were forced to have it

My brother in Christ...

Leaving an infant in a dumpster to starve or freeze or dehydrate or be crushed to death is fucking villainous behavior, regardless of the political climate.

The BARE minimum moral responsibility that these parents have is to give the baby to someone who might take care of it. A family member. An orphanage. Hell leave it near a police station and make it the state's problem. Just don't leave it in a dumpster. Or you are a piece of shit.

[–] pivot_root 24 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (5 children)

Morality argument notwithstanding, you're far too optimistic about some of the alternatives you listed.

Giving a newborn to family doesn't work when your family is dead or disowned you for being pregnant in the first place. And leaving a child near a police station and driving away is an excellent way to find yourself at the wrong end of a child abandonment charge.

The only viable option for some people that you listed is an orphanage, and even then, that's still not a fool-proof guarantee to absolve legal/financial responsibilities as a parent.

[+] [email protected] -16 points 2 months ago (4 children)

Dude I'm not naive. Of course there are challenges and consequences involved in giving up a baby. I didn't mention them because I thought this went without saying, but: Parents are morally obligated to choose to take on those challenges and consequences rather than throwing the baby in a dumpster.

You risk a child abandonment charge? Wtf are you talking about?? Then risk it. Don't throw a baby in a dumpster.

There's just no world where "don't blame the parents" makes sense here. Regardless of how much misery it might cause the parents to relinquish the baby in a humane way, it's still on them to do so. I'm running out of ways to say this. You all are wild.

[–] Drivebyhaiku 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Regardless of how much misery it might cause the parents to relinquish the baby in a humane way, it's still on them to do so. I'm running out of ways to say this. You all are wild.

You are talking about a group of people who are angry at the state for ruining their lives by becoming parents not as a matter of choice but under duress. Abortion having legal consequences and surrender oftentimes saddling these unwilling people with lifelong consequences due to the means of tracking and investigation available there isn't really an "out" here. So these dumpster kids to their parents at birth become incredibly personal symbols of oppression, pain, removal of autonomy and one's own life losing value. It's very difficult to ask someone to value a life when they feel their own lives have lost value. Accepting a harder but more moral path is more likely to be followed through when you feel like you have something worth losing. The discarding of life can be seen as a form of reciprocated violence by individuals who feel like they themselves were discarded.

It may even be instinctually sourced. A lot of mammals placed in a position of extreme stress will kill their young. From what we've witnessed throughout history Humans are no exception.

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