When do children count as children?

When do children count as children?

The account of the fetus found in a Dumpster at Yorktown Mall is heartbreaking, especially during a week when the first names of innocents were read by our president, rightly mourning the slaughter of children.

The story has me wondering, “When does a child begin to count?” Does a fetus found in a Dumpster count as a child if it is just one month premature? Would this preterm “Dumpster child” have counted if he were delivered in a hospital with the attention of a medical team? Does a premature child “not count” if it survives a botched abortion? Does a child only count if it is delivered at term and wrapped in a hospital-issued blanket?

Decades ago, when abortions were rare and performed in early stages, was abortion easier to stomach? Now that our nation is embracing abortion, what frame of reference will our children have decades from now? How will they know when their children count as children?

Alicia Sitley

Glen Ellyn