Just heard a news headline about other states wanting to adopt a TN law that makes it possible to charge as criminals mothers who birth a drug-dependent baby. Many of these mothers aren’t getting prenatal care…

So what happens to these mothers and what happens to their babies? Whether they choose jail time or rehab, will they actually get the help needed to make sustainable change? Will their babies become more negative stats in state custody? 

And what is it that helps us get to a band aid administrative level–with really bad band aids–and seemingly forget the better way that takes more time and is very, very inconvenient yet sensible? 

I continue to think about hospitality, our ability and willingness (or lack there of) to open our literal and figurative doors to people who aren’t like us and welcome them in, feed them…

The more we see each other as “other”, the more we say things and enact things that don’t help us get to root issues. Then the harder it is to say, Forget the unknown! (Well, we can’t forget it but we won’t let it hinder us.) Let’s open our doors and educate ourselves at the same time. It’ll be messy coz we don’t have a clear plan and coz we don’t know their dietary needs and we don’t have an abundance of diapers. 

We already know all this. 

We’re too scared/selfish to do what we know. 

And when I think about how this plays out in my own life, on my own administrative level…I stop thinking about it…