Contributed by Glenn Averoigne

Earlier this month, the Texas state senate passed a bill requiring women to hear the heartbeat and development of the embryo described in detail by their medical provider prior to an abortion.

I will avoid voicing my opinions on the obvious ethical violations of such measures and proceed to my point: there are too many unwanted children.

I would direct Governor Perry, who decided that the bill was an “emergency measure”, to the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange: a webpage run by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

This page lists many of the well over three thousand children between the ages of three and seventeen years who are seeking their forever homes; 117 pages of children are listed on the site. Of these children, many are sibling sets who do not wish to be separated ( one of which included eight children between the ages of six and fifteen) and special needs children — some of whom will not live to see their tenth birthday due to their medical conditions.

Comedian George Carlin once said something profound in a rant against anti-abortionists: “How many of them have fostered or adopted crack babies?”

For all the sign-waving, shouting, name-calling and violent rhetoric over the “sanctity of life” they have done little to make sure that unwanted children are loved and properly cared for after their lives have been “saved.”

Many children given up for adoption in the United States never find a forever home. There are many reasons for this, including cost and time consumption, but mainly people do not want to adopt older or special needs children. It is often more efficient and cost-effective to adopt from another country, like Russia, or to undergo fertility treatments and incur the costs of a pregnancy and neonatal care.

To ice the depression cake, the children who do not find a home by their eighteenth birthday, children who have “aged out,” are given little more than a pat on the back and hope for the best once the state stops supporting them. In short, they are likely to become jobless, homeless young adults with little chance of a post-secondary education; ultimately contributing to the rising number of people on welfare or other social programs.

In case you have yet to be enraged by this phenomenon, I would like to tell you about a little girl named Precious. Precious is three and a half years old and looking for her forever home. Before you think about taking Precious home, you should know a few things about her: she suffers from Prune Belly Syndrome, an abdominal disorder that results in frequent urinary tract infections and often renal failure; pulmonary hypoplasia, an incomplete development of the lungs; and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Precious is waiting for a kidney transplant. Her life will be filled with medication, doctor’s appointments, nurse’s visits and possibly a feeding tube. She is developmentally delayed and requires constant supervision.

Would you be willing to take her home?

I  ask this of Governor Perry and other anti-abortion law makers:  Would you take Precious into your home, knowing that if she does not receive a kidney transplant she will likely die; and if she does receive a kidney she will require lifelong medical treatment.

Another little girl available for adoption shows no emotion or affection and will likely not live to see her tenth birthday; one has Angelman’s Syndrome; several have cerebral palsy or fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). 

I do not write this to discourage people from their own religious or moral views; I write this to urge people to put their money where their mouth is. My passion is HIV/AIDS awareness. I do not simply complain that not enough is being done to prevent the spread of HIV or to find a cure; I volunteer with the Resource Center Dallas, I encourage people to get tested for HIV and I encourage condom use.

If you are desperately anti-abortion, stop waving signs and scaring women; encourage condom use and other forms of contraceptives, volunteer to work with children in the system, become a foster parent or encourage others to do so.

If you really want to do some good in the realm of rights for children, adopt one of the three thousand plus children like Precious.

Information about Precious and other children waiting for their forever homes can be found at:http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/About_TARE/FAQ/default.asp