The New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser laced into Madonna
on Wednesday for what she called the pop star's "express
checkout lane" adoption of a Malawian baby.
Ms. Peyser certainly wasn't alone in her criticism of Madonna
following in Angelina Jolie's maternal footsteps. What was
surprising about the column was Ms. Peyser's choice of another
adoptive parent as a "Better Ma."
"When Merle Hoffman sought to adopt a Russian girl, she went
through more than a year of red tape, paid in excess of $20,000,
and had to fly to Siberia - twice - in snowstorms before she
stood a chance of taking home a bundle of joy," Ms. Peyser
wrote.
E-mails soon flooded in from every corner of the city. Opponents
of legalized abortion were stunned that Ms. Hoffman, the
president of Choices, which they call an abortion mill, could
even be considered an exemplary mother.
Kathy Mylott recently adopted a child whose mother, in the midst
of a crisis pregnancy, found hope and help to give her baby life,
and then made the heroic decision to place her up for adoption.
Ms. Mylott wrote that she almost choked on her tea when she read
Ms. Peyser's column.
Ms. Mylott wanted the public to know who Merle Hoffman is.
"Anyone who has ever been involved in the pro-life movement
in Brooklyn and Queens is well aware of who Merle Hoffman is and
how she made her millions - by running one of the busiest
abortion mills in the country, where thousands of innocent babies
have met their death," she wrote.
Another correspondent, Sister Marie Regina, one of the Sisters
for Life, added her opinion to the controversy. Perhaps, the good
sister noted, Ms. Peyser should have spoken to Monsignor Phillip
J. Reilly of the Precious Blood Monastery. He is the founder of
the Helpers of God's Precious Infants, which organizes vigils at
abortion clinics. Its mission statement asks, "Would you
spend some time with the little babies in your own neighborhood
before they die? Maybe you'll even be able directly to save
lives; maybe not. What's even more important: you'll be
there."
Sister Marie Regina said that of the 100 women who go to Choices
daily, between 15 and 20 decide to choose life for their children
after speaking with Msgr. Reilly. He is also there all day long
to offer the men and women who choose abortion information on
post-abortion healing when they come out. "The irony that so
many couples are forced to go abroad to adopt precisely because
we are aborting 1.5 million children a year is noticeably absent
from the article, as well," she said.
The irony also may be lost on many in the mainstream press, but
that's no surprise. Many journalists have a mindset that places
opponents of legalized abortion somewhere between the Taliban and
harmless wackos obsessing over fetuses. But the harsh truth is
that the vibrant pro-life movement in this country has probably
saved America from the inevitable doom facing the European Union
and the other developed nations of the world.
The author of "America Alone: The End of the World as We
Know It" and a columnist for The New York Sun, Mark Steyn,
explained in an essay for National Review that for a stable
population, you need a total fertility rate of 2.1.
Canada has 1.48, Japan has 1.32, and Europe as a whole has 1.38.
Japan's population shrank last year for the first time, with
21,266 more deaths than births. The rapid aging of almost all the
developed countries, save America, is caused when a society's
birth rate falls and it finds itself with fewer children and more
grandparents. America's rate is 2.1. Hooray!
While we may have a problem with illegal immigration, the swell
of immigrants here are predominantly from Christian countries in
Central and South America. The immigrants flooding shrinking
Europe are Islamic, an explicitly political religion that
transcends borders, Mr. Steyn writes. "In defiance of normal
immigration patterns, the host country winds up assimilating to
Islam: French municipal swimming baths introduce
gender-segregated bathing sessions; Australian hospitals remove
pork from hospital menus," he writes.
In America, the blue states are more likely to embrace
multiculturalism. California mandates a course that requires
seventh-graders to learn about Islam. One teacher in the Byron
Union School in Byron, Calif., adopted a student guide that
began, "From the beginning you and your classmates will
become Muslims." Unconstitutional? Only for
Judeo-Christians, silly.
The birth gap between conservatives and liberals has been
well-documented. The Orthodox Jewish community and Hispanic
Christians, however, are keeping New York well-stocked, though I
see more and more communities being built for adults only.
Whatever one may think about celebrity adoptions, as a mother of
six and a grandmother of five, I declare that loving babies is a
very good and healthy thing for our country.