Where I Stand - Mike O’Callaghan: Differing views of the most important human events

Saturday, Nov. 29, 1997 | 4 a.m.

LIFE AND DEATH have always created great public interest and been the grist for media mills for generations. The recent live birth of the McCaughey septuplets in Iowa has filled the airways and newspapers for days. Despite a few caustic remarks by people who would have had the mother abort some of the babies, it has been a happy story.

Bobbi McCaughey, the mother, put it best when saying, "Any child is a gift from God, no matter whether it's one at a time or seven at a time." Early in her multiple pregnancy, she refused to consider deciding which of the babies should die at the hands of an abortionist.

Several other stories about life and death have been major media attractions during the past few months and years. There is the couple in California who filed a lawsuit against a hospital and doctor for the birth of a daughter. The parents didn't want any more children, and the wife had a tubal ligation to prevent pregnancy. Now they are suing because they have an "unwanted child."

The unwanted baby, now 3 months old, will be the subject of a lawsuit. There are four other children in the family, ages 20, 15, 6 and 4. The youngest will someday learn that she was the subject of a lawsuit, because her parents didn't want her. How's that for a nice inheritance that can cause severe emotional problems?

There are two prominent cases of teenagers giving birth to babies. One resulted in death in a toilet at a high school prom, and the other was thrown away in a garbage dumpster. The resulting actions by the legal system will be most interesting.

Then there is 17-year-old Shanta Clark in New York, who gave birth to a daughter in her bedroom and kept the baby alive for more than two weeks before discovery. The baby, although five weeks premature, is healthy, and yet immediately there was talk of prosecuting the mother. Later, cooler heads prevailed and "child abuse" charges weren't brought. Those people talking about child abuse and legal charges probably would have been happy if the mother had a late-term abortion. Shanta deserves educational, medical and social help and doesn't need more problems or threats from our legal system and busybodies.

We don't know when or where the JonBenet Ramsey case will wind up. What's very clear is a little girl has been brutally murdered, and the Boulder, Colo., authorities haven't found a suspect to charge. Nevertheless, the case continues to attract public attention, and the entire Ramsey family has had a less-than-favorable light cast on it. Sadly, no longer is the death and suffering of a little child the main element of the story.

Life or death always has a positive or negative effect upon people of one or more families. A poignant example is the Unabomber case, where David Kaczynski alerted federal officials about his brother, suspect Theodore Kaczynski. David's actions most likely saved the lives of one or more people. Police investigators told him they believed his brother was mentally disturbed and would "be happier in jail."

Last week, prosecutors seeking the death penalty upset David, who told William Glaberson of the New York Times, "Their actions suggest to me that they are looking for a potential result, which is to put a disturbed, sad, lonely, isolated person to death without regard for his mental state and without regard to the really principled cooperation of his family in protecting the public and trying to help someone they love."

Would David Kasczynski and his mother have turned in their brother and son if they had known the government would seek to execute him? I don't know, but the actions of the people now prosecuting Theodore Kaczynski will give any family of a future suspect less reason to cooperate with law enforcement officers. Brothers and mothers don't cherish the idea of becoming the executioners of their closest relatives.

Americans have become more concerned about the abuse of children. Punishment of abusers has become a national demand. The death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen, when under the care of au pair Louise Woodward, resulted in a jury verdict of second-degree murder. A loud public outcry and the severity of a mandatory life sentence and no possible parole for 15 years for Woodward, age 19, encouraged the judge to reverse the sentence to only the 279 days she had already spent in jail. His actions are being appealed by the prosecution, but, no matter what the result, little Matthew's strange death can't be reversed.

Strange how we exhibit such diverse reactions when viewing the two most exciting times we and fellow human beings can experience.

There should be as much joy for the birth of a single baby in a shack as there is for several babies in a hospital neonatal unit. The death of a homeless person under a bridge has as much meaning and sadness to him and his family and friends as does the sudden death of a popular community leader to his family and friends.

The media and the general public may treat deaths and births differently, but I have to believe our Creator sees them all in the same loving light. We all arrive with nothing and can only leave just as naked.