r/qualitynews • u/SaulKD • 10d ago
‘Baby in a dumpster.’ A spate of abandoned newborns unsettles Texas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/28/abandoned-baby-texas-abortion-ban/93
u/Fro_of_Norfolk 10d ago
What did they think people that don't want to be parents would do if forced to be one?
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u/Left-Plant2717 10d ago
I knows what you meant but damn this was a tough read
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u/teratogenic17 10d ago
Texas isn't a State anymore. It's an unreasoning mob.
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u/Necessary_Net_7829 9d ago
Texas is an authoritarian hellhole where only one group of people benefit.
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u/KobaMOSAM 9d ago
It’s amazing how the “TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY” crowd has no problem when it’s at the state level.
Oh, who am I kidding. They’ll all have no problem with it at the federal level either. As long as it’s their side and what they decide they want this week.
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u/giantpunda 9d ago
Not even that. It's so long as it doesn't affect them. They only change their tune when it directly impacts them & then only goes after their side after all the usual scapegoats are exhausted.
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u/Zarohk 7d ago
Anymore? It never has been.
Remember the Alamo! which was when a bunch of American slaveholders moved to Mexico, and when told that slavery was illegal there, decided to conquer that area and declare it in American state, attacking the Mexican government and killing anyone that opposed their imposition of slavery there.
It is a shameful and disgusting that the United States allowed them to form and admit the state to the union.
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u/Unique-Abberation 7d ago
Texas has become an independent state twice over slavery, I never really had much hope for them
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u/Kailynna 7d ago
Especially when some of these people are children, pregnant through rape, who have had to hide the fact they were pregnant out of fear of their families. These kids are lucky to even survive giving birth alone, and are too terrified, ill and in pain to be able to consider the life of the unwanted parasite that's grown in their bellies.
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u/Myfourcats1 9d ago
They wanted more babies for the adoption industry too. That’s big money.
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u/jagx234 9d ago
It is exceedingly easy to drop off a newborn at any emergency room police or fire station. There are no questions or repercussions. There is no excuse for leaving them to die.
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u/dulcineal 9d ago
People who don’t trust their closest family members enough to inform them they are giving birth are not going to trust that authority figures in police or emergency rooms will just let them drop off a newborn without question or repercussions.
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u/lkjhgfdsazxcvbnm12 9d ago
I want to first say that I absolutely agree with your statement that there is no excuse.
But ‘exceedingly easy’ seems a bit optimistic at best and recklessly naive at worst.
I can imagine a scenario where a young girl of a marginalized and vulnerable population might be skeptical of trusting a community to give her real amnesty or anonymity without any downstream repercussions. Or in cases where mother is uncertain on baby’s health, worrying they could be charged with abortion if the baby doesn’t make it, there is a real incentive to remain off the radar.
Again, I agree there is no excuse. I just think it is worth noting that perhaps the safeguards we have in place require review to ensure they are meaningful and effective for the community they serve. Good intentions only get us so far, effectiveness requires more.
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u/GRex2595 9d ago
This is also ignoring basic things like how one gets there or how one has the baby without people finding out. When it's clear you're pregnant and you don't have a baby, people ask questions. If you can't drive yourself to the box, you need to get transportation from somebody else, who may notice that you left with a baby and returned without one.
Remember, many people who have unwanted pregnancies are not financially independent or may be in an unsupportive relationship. For these people, unwanted pregnancy could mean becoming homeless. They can't allow anybody they know to find out they got pregnant, so some of them will choose infanticide over the higher risk child safe boxes.
My mother tried to hide her pregnancy for a while. She was going to adopt me out. I'm not sure she would have let anybody in her family know about my existence if she could have found a way out of it. Fortunately my family is forgiving, so my mother didn't have to worry about being homeless when her family found out, or when she didn't adopt me out to another family.
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u/jagx234 9d ago
It sounds like we need some giant billboards giving the info in a few languages put up. I can see your scenario where someone has never heard of it or doesn't believe it's real/true.
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u/SCHawkTakeFlight 5d ago
Especially in smaller locals. A town of 10k people or less, it's hard to believe that there is a no repercussion drop off.
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u/Immediate_Loquat_246 10d ago
To the surprise of no one. I mean thousands upon thousands of rape related pregnancies increasing after the fall of Roe, what did they expect? Well adjusted and happy families?
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u/Jamgull 9d ago
Literally yes, that is what they expected. They have a Hallmark movie understanding of the world and think anyone claiming that things like this were going to happen were just lying for shock value.
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u/weinerslav69000 9d ago
The GOP voters live in Lalaland, they know nothing.
The GOP politicians knew this would be the result but it didn't matter because it enabled them to own the supreme Court for the next 40 years.
They don't give a fuck about human suffering or misery or death. They are primitive tribal humans that only care about enriching their own tribe (the 1%)
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u/GRex2595 9d ago
I read an opinion piece from a pastor who supported the overturning. He didn't care if the children ended up in abusive households or in poverty. The gift of life was worth the suffering. Not sure he considered how many children would suffer to death when their parents would choose to abandon them instead.
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u/tie-dye-me 8d ago
They don't give a fuck about people, they just want more numbers to fuel theri numbers, GDP, and keep the working class powerless.
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u/ladymacb29 9d ago
They think the woman will marry the rapist when she gets pregnant and forgive him and they will live happily together in a one income family in suburbia.
Because the people who vote for these things have a 1950s sitcom understanding of the world.
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u/AbsurdFormula0 9d ago
Statistically, after the reversal of Roe V Wade, rape cases stagnated but then increased by more than 30% the next year. This year, they decided not to release the numbers.
Any guess what the percentage increase was compared to last year's?
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u/Immediate_Loquat_246 9d ago
They decided not to release the numbers? I heard the same about maternal maternity rates. Truly disgusting people that don't give a damn about women and girls. But this is what America voted for.
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u/EternalGuardian84 10d ago
It’s almost as if making abortion illegal leads to terrible situations. Strange.
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u/9for9 10d ago
Having actually read the article it focuses on an undocumented young woman that was sexually assault by a family member and had zero sex education. She didn't realize she was pregnant until she was seven months along, because zero sex education. She didn't receive any care for fear of being deported. She gave birth alone on the street next to a taco truck where she worked and didn't even know if the baby was alive.
So this is a mix of compounding problems starting with sexual violence, ignorance and her being undocumented. She didn't know about safe haven laws and barely knew she was pregnant. Abortion access would only be one aspect of addressing this situation.
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u/beansforeyebrows 7d ago
Wow. So tragic. Fucking so sad. Thank you for the summary I don’t have a WP login
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u/13Kaniva 10d ago
Abortion is illegal. So this is what you get. Aborted babies, not fetuses.
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u/flashinthepants87 10d ago
I mean…what did they expect would happen?
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u/BlueTressym 8d ago
That women and girls would willingly marry any available man and put up with any amount of abuse rather than risk being an unmarried mother or in jail.
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u/Wersedated 10d ago
Has Texas thought about arming newborns? Not the anchor baby ones (definitely NOT those ones) but the “American” ones? Pretty sure guns are the answer here. Give those Americans their birthright guns and they’ll be just fine.
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u/subjectfemale 10d ago
My aunt says they should deposit the baby’s on the White House lawn
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u/ForecastForFourCats 9d ago
Drop the babies off at the homes of the justices that overturned Roe. Adoption is such a good option? Maybe the rich people paid by the taxpayers should step up and demonstrate their morals.
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u/subjectfemale 8d ago
They won’t lol look at that guy spending 6 million on his wedding. He could have ended world hunger, made shelters for the homeless… nahh we’re going to have a big party ! 😂
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u/Informal-Business308 10d ago
What did they think was going to happen when they banned abortion?
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u/Affectionate-Oil3019 10d ago
Endless rivers of healthy white babies born to stable, happy, and well-adjusted wealthy couples who had previously put off having kids so they could attend bisexual-trans orgies at University, of course
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u/IAmMelonLord 10d ago
Seriously tho! Conservative logic falls apart immediately when you examine it. They don’t want abortion, but they also don’t want any more non-white people, they hate poor people, and are against social programs. Like, what do you want?!
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u/Affectionate-Pain74 10d ago
Abortion was a way to draw in the evangelicals. Republicans didn’t have enough support to win elections. Southerners didn’t vote. They were religious and wanted to look down on black people. This is as after the Civil rights act was passed. It worked. These people vote against themselves and feel righteous about it because…we are pro life. No, pro life would be wanting each child born into a home that wants them, feeding them at school, paying a living wage so parents can feed them at home, building up education… Republicans are pro birth, not pro life.
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u/BaskingInWanderlust 9d ago
100% this. It amazes me that so many on the right don't know the history of why this became the battle it is today. This whole anti-abortion thing was born from racism. Moral Majority, and all that jazz.
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u/Tardisgoesfast 9d ago
Don’t forget about the endless supply of healthy babies given up for adoption so other white people can go baby shopping.
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u/Middle-Net1730 10d ago
Pretty soon they will start cataloging DNA and mothers won’t be able to do this. They want a poor underclass of slave breeders, and they are going to get it.
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u/TensionOk4412 10d ago
well, well, well- the consequences of anti freedom resulting in unwanted babies being thrown out?
gee, if only there wasn’t some nanny state forcing people to have unwanted babies that they put in dumpsters! if only we could have seen this coming!!
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u/747iskandertime 9d ago
This is what they voted for. How dare they be "unsettled" by what they fantasized.
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u/Traditional-Run9615 10d ago
What will this nation look like when these anti-abortion laws become enacted by Congress & Trump?
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u/TemporalColdWarrior 10d ago
The only saving grace is there’s no way the GOP gets its act together to pass a national abortion ban.
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u/Powwa9000 10d ago
We gonna bring back orphanages where nuns raise abandoned babies and kids
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u/akestral 10d ago
*abuse orphans.
(Come for me, christians. Come and explain all those unmarked baby graves at the Magdalen Laundries.)
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u/RedSkinTiefling 10d ago
So an afterbirth abortion
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u/Dangerous-Sort-6238 10d ago
Yeah, I know when babies are born in hospitals the first thing the doctors ask is if they would like to abort it before handing it to parents
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u/Invis_Girl 10d ago
This the natural end to anti-abortion crap. I would call it state-sponsored and wanted human attrition.
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u/Agitated-Handle-8219 10d ago
Well guess who started this? You fucked up Republicans. Her body your choice.
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u/This_Loss_1922 10d ago
They did not fuck up. This was intended and its a template they are going to use countrywide.
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u/EyeCatchingUserID 10d ago
What could explain this? Like, has anything happened, societally or politically or something, that would cause a rash of unwanted and unloved babies to be left to die in dumpsters?
This is what happens when you let mentally deficient bigots have a say in government. There needs to be a middle ground between "only party members get to vote" and "if you're 18 you get to help control society."
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u/browndog03 9d ago
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And ask “how come we didn’t see this in advance??”
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u/Historical_Trust2246 7d ago
Why are they unsettled? The people of Texas know who and what they voted for. There’s no mystery to be figured out here.
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u/UberBricky80 7d ago
55% of eligible voters in Texas are women and they are getting exactly what they wanted. Extremely sad situation
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u/notPabst404 10d ago
Oh no, consequences! It's almost like authoritian crackdowns on bodily autonomy have consequences.
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u/Quirky_Reef 10d ago
An extremely sad and troubling FAFO. But a FAFO, nonetheless. GET BENT PAXTON, CRUZ AND ALL OF YOU MFS
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u/MistressDamned 10d ago
Ok, I'm confused. TX has safe haven laws. Why wouldn't people just hand the baby to a designated safe haven drop off? Or are they only finding dead babies? If they are only finding dead babies, were the babies dead when they were put in the dumpster? Or did they die AFTER that as a result of the action? A lot of people are jumping to the political extreme, and I don't doubt politics plays a role here, but this breaks down a bit more.
1 if the baby is born alive, then the mother who is failing to drop baby at a safe haven is quite guilty of a crime.
2 if the baby was born dead, why wasn't the mother in the hospital in the first place for a high pregnancy?
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u/Liv4This 10d ago
Remember that episode of SpongeBob where they roast Texas? Culturally relevant now
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u/Comfortable_Bird_340 10d ago
Are there no such thing as orphanages, foster homes, or adoption centers?
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u/upanddownforpar 10d ago
Don't assume that it's the anti abortionists that are unsettled. It's likely the pro choice people. The anti abortionists don't actually care about full term children. They just want to control women.
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u/Rare-Forever2135 9d ago
Texas has always had this cultural infatuation with the archetype of the tough cowboy, making the hard decisions and "sticking to his guns" despite any blowback or critical thinking.
Consequently, our politicians, like Bush the Lesser and Abbott, charge forward with bad, poorly thought-out decisions and see altering or reversing those decisions as a sign of personal weakness.
So, abstinence-only sex ed did nothing but drive up teen STD, pregnancy, and abortion rates.
Hobbling Planned Parenthood did nothing but drive up teen pregnancies and school drop out rates, STDs, as well as maternal and neonatal illnesses and death rates.
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u/ChoiceHour5641 9d ago
Texas could be humane, but has instead opted for prom night dumpster babies, or back-alley abortion bleed-outs. Good job, Texas! You get 1 star.
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u/BedduMarcu 9d ago
These women are sociopaths devoid of morality… There are literal safe heavens, such as firehouses, where they could have left the baby alive, instead of killing them and discarding them as waste!
This isn’t anything new. Some monstrous women have been committing acts like this for ages.
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u/caleb95brooks 9d ago
It says it was in summer is this even a recent story or are they just digging up stories to push a narrative?
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u/Legitimate_Carpet782 9d ago
It’s time for mobile neonatal vans. Volunteers can help with delivery and neonatal care. Or teach kids about what a new life has to go through to make it.
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u/Fit_Importance_5738 9d ago
They will just start calling for harsher punishments on mothers who dump babies and stricter control over future mothers.
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u/Arkayenro 9d ago
so they double down and create laws to dna test every pregnant woman so they can track the dead babies back to its mother and have her put in jail?
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u/kiwispawn 9d ago
Well this just doesn't come as any surprise. Luckily they are pro life there, so hopefully these kids are quickly adopted out.
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u/Strong-Relation9928 9d ago
As the texas born texas raised kid, I can tell you this with my full chest, texas does not care. This is a state that will put a needle in your arm for any reason.
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u/Novel_Reaction_7236 9d ago
I read this to the tune of “Girlfriend In A Coma.” Damn, Texas, do better!
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u/inabighat 9d ago
Too bad nobody could have possibly predicted this exact thing would definitely happen before the legislation was passed.
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u/HopefulNothing3560 9d ago
Anything to do with a women’s body including abortions right to make a choice over their own body is a old senators choice so dumping a unwanted is not their choice giving women the only choice since Texas does not report anything to do with birth .
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u/Miserable-Lawyer-233 9d ago
These stories are devastating and make the pro-choice movement look terrible. They give the impression that even after birth, life isn’t valued, which ends up reinforcing the pro-life argument.
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u/TheEvilestEvan 9d ago
Paywalled…this is today’s liberal media. Locked up away from the very masses who need it. No wonder we lost.
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u/khaalis 9d ago
It will take capital M Millions of maternal and infant deaths before the needle even starts to move. The general public needs to reach a tipping point before their outrage will finally be louder than the conservative Christian Nationalist minority’s ‘squeaky wheel’. We never learn from history, especially our own. Like with prohibition, the Temperance movement was Loudest and got their way just to bring about The highest crime level in US history before people realize what a horrible mistake they had made. It’s always the same. Extremists scream at the top of their lungs to bring about the change they want until it backlashes in Everyone’s face before those changes are redacted. If a few more people picked up a history book our society might not be so f**d.
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u/Cheap-Web-3532 9d ago
Maybe it unsettles some. The folks responsible are excited, because they foam at the mouth, eager to punish these women. Republicans are freaks.
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u/Business_Climate1086 9d ago
Shocking. Who would have thought that if you legislated draconian laws against abortion, that people wouldn’t find other ways to terminate or deal with unwanted pregnancies, when not given a choice.
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u/Sea-Replacement-8794 10d ago edited 9d ago
The people of Texas were warned about this repeatedly, and repeatedly chose it. They’re now getting precisely what they voted for: women bleeding out in hospital parking lots, and dead babies in dumpsters.
I’m glad to see the press cover this and hope the coverage continues because I fully expect Texas to stop tracking and publishing any statistics related to maternal or newborn health outcomes in the near future.