Thursday, August 5, 2010

a call...

i got a call from the health unit. They were phoning to see if i would be willing to answer a 10 question multiple choice questionnaire about post partum depression.
"Sure." i mumbled - slinging my shirt over my damp hair running around getting ready for a playdate.
She said it's rated on a scale of like 1-40 or something like that & anything under 10 is considered normal - i ended up scoring a 1. She laughed & asked if i have been doing fairly well then.
& i guess i have been.
Ephraim has been a dream.
Most of my emotions - have been happy ones. Life has been full, busy & sleepless - but good.
"Aaaaaaand, next - i just wanted to check with you about Ephraim's immunizations..."
i *tried* to keep the conversation short seeing as i had babies to dress & friends to meet - but she didn't seem satisfied with my answer. She *did* understand that my concern was mostly with the ethical issues surrounding the use of aborted fetal tissue...
"But," she cut me off, "It's just such a very small amount..."
It caught me off guard.

Just such a small amount.

& i guess that's exactly where the 2 worlds of thought struggle & one side can't fathom the reasoning of the other...
So small, still so dependent, in an environment so different from our own - whether a womb or a petri dish, still so undeveloped...
One side sees 'such a very small amount'...
The other side sees life.

3 comments:

deborah said...

wow..that would have caught me off guard too.

such a small amount - how it can be devalued based on quantity?

Would a dirty needle be given the same thought if it only held trace amounts of HIV?

hmmm. On the other hand, I am surprised that she was aware of fetal tissue in the vaccines.

Lori-Dawn said...

She actually said that??? Holy COW! Like it matters how much! just a small amount is still *life* that was snuffed out! I would have been so incredibly angered at that comment she likely would have gotten an earful...sigh.

good points Deborah on the HIV thing!

jessica jespersen said...

Any nurses i talked to in the beginning were completely ignorant of any fetal tissue being involved in immunizations. It *is* a step forward that at least more health professionals are aware that there is a moral quandary for soome parents. Now they are frustrated that we have a "choice" to refuse based on that. -j

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