Commonwealth Policy Center

A tragic case in Lexington has drawn national attention after a former UK cheerleader was indicted on first-degree manslaughter charges in the death of her newborn baby. Investigators say the infant was found dead in a closet, and an autopsy revealed the child had been born alive but later died from asphyxia. The loss of a child in any circumstance is heartbreaking. But the case also raises difficult cultural and moral questions. If this same child had died only a short time earlier in the womb through a chemical abortion, the law in many places would treat it not as a crime but as healthcare. Planned Parenthood calls this “reproductive freedom” which they rallied around last week.