A "Wanted" Child

“Every child a wanted child” sounds like a self-evident good cause. As I thought about this slogan however, it occurred to me that it carries with it some greater problems than what it intends to cure. It fits well with the Planned Parenthood philosophy, and can nicely be used as an argument for abortion on demand, as well as birth control for everyone. But the legacy of Planned Parenthood has not been a nation of happy “wanted” families, but a continuation or even acceleration of family breakup.
A more traditional assumption especially in a day when contraception was not a practical option for married couples, was that every child deserved the rights and privileges of the home and society to which it was born. It was not up to the community or the parents to plan their families. Children were a natural and common part of life, and were seen as a blessing, with the exception of extreme hardship, such as times of famine or war.
But “Every child a wanted child” revolves the issue around the parent and community. It assumes that I should have a child when I want one, for my gratification. And only that child deserves my love and nurturing. But if I do not choose under what circumstances this child comes into my life, then I am not obligated to provide the same nurture. Thus a purported claim to enhance the lot of children, actually undermines a previous God-given position, and makes provision for prevention or destruction of children. It can even rationally be extended to justify sex-selection abortion: if I only want a specific gender, then I shouldn’t, by this slogan, be forced to have the other.

I recently read an interview with an author who was trying help couples who chose to remain childless just from personal preference not to feel guilty. The situation that has actually developed is that most of the industrialized world is not having enough children to maintain our populations, help us have a balanced view of what is valuable, work, pay taxes, or carry on the culture that has been passed down to them. Rather than having “wanted” children, the “progressive” members of our society are opting more frequently just to not have any. It was significant that in a recent Canadian federal election, the two key issues identified by the media were the “rights” to same-sex marriage and to kill our unborn. To quote Mark Steyn, “The future belongs to those who show up for it.” It seems that what some of our culture is proposing is that it is not worth it. -philw