Editor's note. Happy Birthday to my oldest, Emily.

I guess by now I shouldn't need to be reminded of the obvious, but I sometimes forget that each story we run resonates with people in a very, very personal way. Let me use some of the recent editions of TN&V to illustrate my point.

Last Thursday we talked about "PGD"-- Preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Once used to "weed out" embryos carrying life-threatening diseases, PGD is increasingly being employed to ensure that the embryo is the "correct" gender, or to arrive at the right "trait selection." By the latter is meant that the baby will have the deserved height, eye color, complexion, and/or hair color.

I immediately received emails asking me if PGD is not equivalent to the Nazi's lust for "racial purification"? Others with children with Down syndrome somberly wrote of the enormous pressure they came under when doctors told them the results of the prenatal diagnosis. The "option" to snuff out less-than-perfect babies is never all that far removed from subtle–and not so subtle–declarations that the mother ought to abort that child.

Or take the story we wrote earlier last week about the author of a self-congratulatory memoir describing how he had "assisted" both his parents to kill themselves. I received a number of responses including a long, long email from an elderly woman who had been close to death numerous times. She described what she said was a pattern of neglect, even hostility, toward her: why wouldn't she just die and save us all that time and expense?

But the two stories that evoked the most anger and indignation both involved abortion. You may remember that Wisconsin RTL is waging an all-out battle against a proposal to abort babies 19-23 weeks old at the Madison Surgery Center. Wisconsin RTL lost the first round, but the fight is far from over.

Which many people brought up when commenting on the case of the 2006 "failed" abortion in Florida that cost abortionist Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique his license a week ago Friday. Readers were incensed that once  23-week-old Baby Shanice Denise Osbourne survived the abortion, rather than being cared for, she was (according to the lawsuit) knocked onto the floor, scooped up, tossed into a red plastic biohazard bag, and thrown out.

Conclusion? Evidently the staff was persuaded that babies born alive during abortions are not really human beings, but essentially indistinguishable from medical waste.

Other correspondents were angry that the mother had sued the abortionist, the clinic, and its staff. (She alleges in her suit that "she witnessed the murder of her daughter" and said she "sustained severe emotional distress, shock and psychic trauma which have resulted in discernible bodily injury.")   Granted, she does not come across as a sympathetic figure. But, as my associate Liz Townsend wrote,  "publicity from the discovery of the baby's body led to charges in 2007 against other [non-medical] clinic employees for performing abortions and dispensing medicine without licenses at the A GYN abortion mills in Miramar and Hialeah, according to the Miami Herald."

In addition, Liz wrote, "Belkis Gonzalez and Siomara Senises both pled no contest to the charges in December 2007 and September 2008, respectively, and received probation, according to the mother's complaint. However, the complaint alleges, Gonzalez and Senises continue to operate abortion clinics in Florida with ownership under Gonzalez's daughter's name."   

Cases such as these warrant the judgment of one respondent.

"This is unacceptable and horrible!! This should be told on every news channel and newspaper."

Please send your thoughts and comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com.

Happy President's Day!