Can a Newborn Punish You?

If you are a youth, someone who lacks resources, someone who has no social support structure, etc. then the answer may very well be yes. The conditions are what are quite punishing in such circumstances, lest we merely confuse the presence of a baby with a switch that raps a bad kid on the rear who does not listen to his or her parents. It is not just the presence of the baby that punishes, but the transformation of the social structures that do. "Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior." To say that a newborn does not introduce something aversive to someone who does not want him or her misses entirely what punishment actually means.

Why do I raise this? Barack Obama recently made a reference to this in relation to his daughter. The quote: "Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information" (Johnstown, PA, March 29, 2008). Of course the other way to look at it is that the baby would also be punished as well. This is not an argument that says "abortion is cool" as you might hear many now say.  Nor is it a suggestion that Obama is decidedly "pro-abortion".

It is to say that if we do not take appropriate social and educational measures, the birth of newborns will be apprehended as something aversive to a social order and to the  psychological condition of the mother rather than be apprehended as a gift. Not to understand that this currently happens for young mothers is rather naive. If you disagree with this, spend some time in a hospital labor and delivery unit and count how many children are born into less than hospitable conditions with decidedly unaccepting parents and/or grandparents.

Over at Reformed Chicks Blabbing Michele McGinty raises this issue with the following:

So, pro-life Obamaicans, which is better for our pro-life position: a president who doesn't talk about abortion or pro-life issues but wouldn't promote it or be an advocate for it either, or someone who has such a low view of life that he calls a baby, "punishment" and would make an apologetic for it using his own daughters?

I think it's clear that Obama isn't post-partisan on the abortion issue, he is decidedly pro-choice.

The pro-life position is really anti-abortion so let's not sugar-coat it. The anti-abortion position does punish a teenager with a pregnancy because it offers no argument to increase social services to help that mother to raise her child. It just points the finger at her for getting pregnant. Thus, it is not just the newborn that punishes, but it is the social stigma and ostracism of the new mother that comes with the package that punishes. The young mother with little resources and a baby is a toxin to the order of society and she is treated as such.

The anti-abortion position has nothing to say about that young mother. She is cast out in favor of "the system". The options for child-rearing are then to choose the system or choose a mother who may not get the proper education and resources to be a good mother for her child.  This is especially true if there are no grandparents around for this important task.  The anti-abortion position does not offer such support for the mother but maintains a myopic fixation on the unborn. Love and hypocrisy cannot co-exist and the lack of love for the post-partum life in the world is where the anti-abortion argument fails.

Want to make the position more plausible? Get more "liberal" with social support services and improve them. Otherwise it is theological window dressing for an otherwise anemic ethical philosophy that is both inconsistent and dare I say hypocritical. The pro-life/anti-abortion position is therefore implausible.

One final caveat. I am not defending Obama here as much as presenting an argument contra an irrational position. If "Obama defender" is your take, feel free to build that strawman on your own time.

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