A Rose By Any Other Name

Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes

two little ears, two eyes and a nose ―

survived an abortion, was born alive.

You can hear this baby’s heartbreaking cry.

“Pregnant is not . . . what I had planned.

Can’t deal with this now. You must understand.”

~

Is the mother hard-hearted . . . or just in a fog?

Does she feel unsupported . . .

or her future’s been robbed?

Is she scared, is she anxious, or just mad at God?

Whatever the reason, one thing now is clear . . .

no longer “a part of her body” to claim –

does she face all the problems this small one presents

or keep her eyes shut and turn a deaf ear?

~

Perhaps she feels trapped and makes a grim choice

to block out the sound of this little one’s voice.

Decision made now will mark her for life –

you cannot undo a wrong into right.

~

“I need for this problem to quickly be gone,”

says mom to attendants, “just finish the job.”

The doctor and nurse give each other a nod.

“Our rights are what matters,”

chants the militant mob.

Forty-four in the Senate sanction this deed

devoid of a conscience . . . so it seems.

~

If Shakespeare were alive today

what would his potent pen have to say?

Rosebud or fully flowering bloom

embryo, fetus, baby out of the womb . . .

you can change what you call the ending of life

lubricate lies and make them polite,

distract from the horror, turn a blind eye,

deaden the soul to sleep in the night.

~

But a rose by any other name

is undeniably a rose . . .

whether we spin evil . . . as good

I suppose.

~

[In January 2019, the NY Senate passed a bill expanding a woman’s right to abortion in the third trimester. In February, that same Senate failed to pass (44 voted nay) the “born alive” bill protecting any infant that survived a third trimester abortion (in other words, without medical support the baby would be left to die). Since then, several states have placed no limits on the latest point in pregnancy that a woman can have an abortion.