So I've been following the story of the FLDS women and their children, the custody cases, kids being put in foster care, etc. There are lots of issues involved which interest me (protected rights, women's issues, Mormon vs pseudo-mormons etc...if you're reading this post, you know me well enough to know why I'm interested).
I may be demonstrating my ignorance, and maybe there have been exceptions made, but as I understand it, all of the mothers, even those with very young children, have now been separated from their children. As I started really thinking about that, I realized that this includes any number of women who are probably breastfeeding (since these folks seem to be all about stereotypical "good" mothering). This means that the mothers and babies involved in this intensely emotional, physical, sensory, bonding practice, have been forced to stop it. In a really short period of time. Which means not only a number of emotional issues for mother and baby, but also the practical problems of pain for the moms who can't nurse (and though expressing milk helps, it's not a truly good fix) and babies who in all likelihood will refuse either a bottle or the formula in it.
This makes me VERY angry.
I think most of my anger is selfish...I'm mad because I don't know how to feel about the whole thing, or why I feel like I even should HAVE an opinion. I'm all for taking teenage girls who have been married to old men (whether they think it's what they want or not...there are any number of teenagers I know who do really stupid things because they think they want to) away from an abusive situation. I think that a certain amount of intervention in the cases of pregnant teens who have probably been abused by knowing adults is justified.
But could it really hurt to let the nursing moms stay with their babies? Or at least give them time to wean them? But then there comes the issue of where to draw the line.
Oh, it's all so CONFUSING! I can't help but think of how I would react if someone took my nursing baby from me. And that's just plain hard.
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I find the issue very complicated and upsetting. I do not know how to feel either. I get VERY nervous about the state taking children away from mothers. Before leaving the States, I saw the cover of People magazine in the grocery store. The cover claimed the rag would reveal why the FLDS people are a "cult." I flipped through the magazine to see the acceptable and celebrated exploits of "normal" celebrities. They are the non-cultish folks we should all aspire to be like! I am personally and/or historically connected with these issues (women's rights, motherhood, breastfeeding, polygamy, the LDS church, abuse, pornography, homeschooling, etc., etc.) and so it is very difficult to sort. I just live in too many glass houses.
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