I wrote this poem three years ago for our Indigo Kalliope. I am repeating it in the wake of the Hobby Lobby ruling. We know that it isn't a deep concern for the fetus that drives the owners of Hobby Lobby and their ilk. It isn't deep concern for the life and well being of these unborn. It is about controlling others, in particular, women.
Not about the babies
It’s not about the babies
Although they are compelling
With their tiny fingers
And curling toes
And soft cooing voices
If it was about the babies
They would care what happened
Once they took that first breath
Or at least beyond
The doctor’s slap and that first cry
If it was about the babies
It would also be about the children
Hungry or homeless or cold or beaten
Until they couldn’t sit
Because their parents were annoyed
If it was about the babies
It would be about the mothers
Carrying those precious souls,
About keeping mothers well
And safe and fed
If it was about the babies
Someone would ask the unaskable question
Is it really less kind to terminate life in the womb
Than to make a child grow up
Unwanted?