Ty’s mother could get 25 years to life in prison for killing her son. Some will think she deserves the death penalty. But if she had aborted her son 3 years earlier, just before he was born, it would have not only been ok, but many would have said she did the right thing. Even now many will say that it would have been better for Ty to have been aborted than to have suffered this death.

Not many years ago, when I lived in NJ, Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson killed their newborn baby by throwing the baby into a dumpster after delivering the baby in a hotel room. Month’s later, Melissa Drexler, the prom mom, delivered her baby in a bathroom at her prom, threw the baby into a trash can, and returned to the prom for the rest of the night. Grossberg and Peterson received about 2 years each in jail and Drexler served 3 years in jail.

In 2000, Martita Gonzalez threw her 14 month son off the Paterson Falls when she couldn’t get a babysitter so she could go on a date with the father of the child. People were as horrified then as they are today over Ty’s death.

Circumstances vary in every case, but a couple of things can be said. In every one of the cases mentioned in my letter, if abortion had been the “choice,” it would have been perfectly legal and many would have said, “the right choice.” Many in this country feel that abortion is the answer to child abuse. The truth is that the abortion mentality in this country is the cause of this deadly child abuse. All of the examples I have mentioned in this letter are nothing more than “post-birth abortions.” Ty’s mom is guilty of a “post-birth abortion.”

The deputy chief of Albuquerque police is quoted as saying, “we feel a special connection with those who are often too young and too small to protect themselves. The mood here is…unspeakable horror. How could a mother do this to her child?” Correct! These are appropriate words and feelings, but it is obvious in this country that these words and feelings, for far too many people, apply only to babies already born and in some cases not even to newborns, as the Grossberg, Peterson, and Drexler cases illustrate.

There is something very wrong in this country and this case clearly points out what it is. Our young moms have been brought up and taught that killing babies is ok and that, in many circumstances, it is the right “choice.” Faced with an emotional situation, it is not hard to understand how these moms often do not make the distinction of pre-birth vs post-birth. Ty’s tragic death is the product of living in a “culture of death” and this “culture of death” began in January 1973 when abortion became legal. These moms are merely exercising their “choice.” If their “choice” horrifies us post-birth, it should equally horrify us pre-birth.

Father Stephen Imbarrato

We encourage you to consider writing your own letter to the editor. Send it to your local newspaper or new magazine.