I’m looking forward to reading this book, Girl in Glass. Just heard an interview on NPR yesterday with the author, who is the mother of the “distressed baby” born at 25 weeks. Here’s an article about the story. I never heard about the initial controversy.
In an age of CEO gaffes and snafus, one in particular drew significant backlash last year.
At a town hall with employees, AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong explained his reasoning behind the cuts that had recently been made to the company’s retirement benefits: He blamed rising costs linked with the Affordable Care Act — and, more specifically, he blamed the costs of covering two “distressed babies.”
Some other highlights:
On her daughter’s time in the neonatal intensive care unit
The first time I reached into her incubator, she held onto my hand. Her fingers were so tiny that they hardly felt like fingers, but they grasped my finger, and from that moment on, I could see, you know, she’s fighting for her life, and the least that I can do as her mother is to be here with her.
On any given day I might feel, you know, that this is a good day — she gained an ounce, her oxygen levels are steady, her heart rate is steady — and then, three hours later, her lung had collapsed or her weight had plummeted. And, you know, I have to say there’s nothing like having a child on life support for three months to give you perspective on what matters.
What a painful time this must have been. I love the respect the author shows this tiny person, fighting for her life.
Of course all the pro-choicers in the world say they too love this story. Because the mom wanted to have this baby, it was right and good for her to be born. But if she had not wanted the baby, then it would have been right and good to have an abortion. For anti-choicers like me, we are saying some things are not a choice. Everyone is anti-choice in some ways. So the question is what are legit choices for you? And by what standard do you decide?
Deanna Fei is the mother of Mila, born at 25 weeks, and author of Girl in Glass
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