"I Wish We Could Put an End to 10-Year-Olds Being Raped"
CBS News Interviews Bart Barber on Church-Sanctioned Child Abuse, Health and Violence | Media Update October 10, 2022
“60 Minutes,” produced by CBS news in the United States, interviewed Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber last night on a range of Public Health and healthcare topics.
Barber was elected in June to lead the nation’s largest Protestant denomination in the wake of a blistering 288-page independent probe, detailing how the convention’s leaders stonewalled and denigrated survivors of clergy sex abuse and rape over more than two decades.
In May, the SBC Executive Committee released this list of known abusers dating back more than 20 years: Here is the list of persons who raped children.
Cooper interviewed Barber at his Texas farm and at his church. During the interview with correspondent Anderson Cooper, Barber shared his views and select political positions. He also responded to the child abuse perpetuated by his church community / political coalition members, his stance on Sexual and Reproductive Health medical care access for girls and women, Freedom of Sexual Preference, and his views about violence and misinformation supported by Evangelical Church members.
“They actually kept a list of over 700 names of people who had been credibly accused. What they said though, is we couldn’t give that to the churches because local churches have autonomy in who they hire and fire for pastors. We can’t tell them they can’t hire this person. The Executive Committee had the list, put it in a drawer and didn’t tell anyone about it for over 10 years.”
—Ryan Burge, Eastern Illinois University professor specializing in child abuse cover ups by religious organizations in the United States
One of the health topics discussed was the Sexual and Reproductive Health of women and girls. Barber confirmed his position—and his followers’ position—on child rape and child pregnancy. You can watch the full interview here:
As THE FINE PRINT readers know by now, recently, an OB-GYN revealed that she terminated a pregnancy for a 10-year-old victim of sexual assault who was forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn 1973's Roe v. Wade, sparking the national debate on whether a pregnant child should be forced to carry out a pregnancy.
In response, ethical physicians and Women’s Health experts globally have detailed the traumatic consequences that occur to a young girl's body if they are forced to experience childbirth.
Pregnant children face higher risks of eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections than older women, and babies of adolescent mothers face higher risks of low birth weight, preterm delivery and severe neonatal conditions.
Pregnant girls typically have long labor, obstructed labor and the fetus bears down on the bladder and on the urethra which can cause pelvic inflammatory disease or the rupture of tissue between the vagina and the bladder and rectum. The complications, the morbidity and the mortality are much higher in girls under 15 than girls 16 to 19 although 16 to 19 has a mortality twice as high as women 20 and above.
One critical health issue pregnant children face is that their pelvis is too small to birth even a small fetus. For pregnant children, there are also multiple physical and psychological issues that can arise. The pelvis is not fully grown and the incidence of requiring a Cesarean section is significantly higher, too.
Another major complication seen in pregnant children carrying their first child is a high incidence of preeclampsia, which is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the U.S. and around the world. Preeclampsia, also known as toxemia, is a pregnancy condition that can cause serious complications and is characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. When preeclampsia isn't controlled, the mother can seize and the fetus can die.
These are only a few of the high risk medical considerations. The psychological byproducts of child pregnancy are also life-altering.
As hospitals and clinics around the United States continue to refuse medical care to women and girls, harm persists. The scope and scale of harm to pregnant persons since the United States Supreme Court ruling on body sovereignty has already been dire, not to mention the distress it has imposed on ethical healthcare professionals.
At kitchen tables, work places and medical association conferences across the country, the question in 2022 for Americans is: How much harm to health and mental health is too much?
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