Today, there are two people missing from this earth. Jennifer and Madison Morbelli. Jennifer was 33 weeks into her pregnancy with Madison. She and her husband had opened gift registries. They had named their daughter, felt her move and were expecting her to arrive into the world around March 20th. This was their wanted daugher.
And then suddenly, she was not wanted any longer. It was reported to Jennifer and TJ that Madison had fetal abnormalities. Now, we do not know the extent of these abnormalities. But apparently, they were so significant that these young parents decided to end their daughter’s life. The two, who had met at the University of Delaware, traveled from their home in upstate New York, to Germantown, Maryland. They visited Dr. LeRoy Carhart, one of the few doctors in the nation who openly performs late-term abortions. Jennifer and TJ checked into a hotel where they spent several days during the four-day long procedure. Around 5pm last Thursday, before the couple headed back to New York, Jennifer complained of chest pain and discomfort. She died just hours later at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital from massive bleeding in her abdominal.
Jennifer and TJ are not monsters. They were a young married couple looking to start a family. I am sure the news of their first child was full of great joy. And I am sure that when they received news of their daughter’s impending health complications, they were fraught with fear and distress. But what floors me, is that out of the five adults in Jennifer’s life, her parents, her in-laws, her husband, did not stand up for her or her daughter’s health and well being.Could any of them possibly think that ending the life growing within her, by abdominal injection and a risky and invasive procedure, could possibly be good for her health? Not only this, but what about Madison? Why did her parents suddenly believe that their daughter’s life was not worth their sacrifice because her status suddenly went from “perfect” to “abnormal”?
The most striking and disturbing fact is that Jennifer’s mother-in-law, Kathy Morbelli, has emphasized in her statements that this was a “wanted” baby. Wanted? Well, I’m sorry but I’ve never heard of a mother killing her “wanted” child. Jennifer, TJ, and their parents did not “want” Madison. What they wanted was a perfectly healthy child. They wanted a situation that they were not handed, a situation in which they would not have to deeply struggle every day of their lives for the life of their own child. But yet, is this not “wanting” your child? Wanting him or her so badly, that one would do whatever it takes, no matter the sacrifice, to care for, nurture and love that person. No, Madison was not wanted, not her adnormailites, not her person, not her life, no matter how imperfect it might have been.
If Jennifer and TJ could not have faced the fear of bringing a disabled or “imperfect” child into this world, then we have failed them-as parents, as sister, as brothers, and as friends. If they could not face the possible shame they themselves would face for having an abnormal child and the shame their daughter would face placed on those who are not fully functioning, then we should truly place this shame on ourselves.If this couple could not handle the weight of even the thought of raising a disabled child, then we have failed them. We have failed as a society to opening rejoice in every life, no matter the imperfections it holds. In truth, none of us are perfect. No matter our pay, our career, our education, we all hold worth as human beings. It is a lie that this worth is compromised by our state of health or social status.
The loss of Madison and Jennifer’s lives are a tragedy. We need all to continually pray for the understanding and respect of human life and the dismembering of the lie that the worth of our lives are placed on our economic or material worth and not the truth of our worth in the eyes of God.
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