Breastmilk is a BODILY FLUID! It is not any different than blood and should be treated as such. Would you accept a blood transfusion from your “friend”; just because she says she is a match?? No matter how close you are to someone, you cannot be sure that they are free from disease. Your close friends and family DO have things that they don’t tell you. It is possible that they do have things that they don’t even know about. It isn’t responsible to share a bodily fluid just because they have it and you don’t no matter what the situation. There are a million illnesses and diseases out there…if you are testing breastmilk and/or a mother you will have to test for EVERYTHING, not just a few. {posted on BabyCenter by hfish74}
It was after my initial posting on the debate board that the “disease posts” started popping up. There was even a grandma posting and begging the mothers to use formula because her daughter had just been diagnosed with AIDS, and there was some concern that the granddaughter could have contracted the disease through nursing. {They are currently in the “wait and see” stage.}
And so I came to understand that sin was behind this whole debate.
A world full of promiscuity, and alcohol and drug abuse creates a society of paranoia. Lives that are not conducted in purity necessarily bring about disease in the body, and even sometimes in the mind {but that is another post altogether}. Jesus was and is the antithesis of our current situation. He embodied a contagious cleanness — He touched a leper, and instead of contracting leprosy, the leper was healed and “made clean.” But sin brings forth an inevitable death, sometimes more quickly than others.
Why would a person even ask the question, “Should moms be allowed to share or sell their breastmilk?” Because there is an underlying assumption of sin.
I remember when I was pregnant with E., and how I felt like the OBGYN condemned me because I chose to forgo the AIDS test. She didn’t seem to believe that I didn’t need it. I’ve never had a blood transfusion, never partaken of illegal drugs, my husband and I were pure when we married, and I was {and am!} the faithful wife of a faithful husband. Following Christ not only brings joy, but a certain amount of protection. But the wary eye of the OB told me that some people don’t really believe that people like me exist.
Another example is the treatment of an infant’s eyes at birth:
“Eye drops are routinely administered to newborns, and again they are not without controversy. Traditionally Silver Nitrate was put in the newborn’s eyes after the birth to kill bacteria that may have been picked in the birth canal {like gonorrhea, chlamydia, etc.}. There were many cases of eye irritation stemming from this and so now erythromycin antibiotic ointment is used” {source, emphasis mine}.
This is a required procedure in the state of California unless the baby is delivered at home. Let me reiterate: Every baby born in a hospital in California is assumed to be born to a woman with an STD and treated accordingly with antibiotic eye drops. There is a complete lack of trust within the community that is revealed in the quote above from hfish74: “No matter how close you are to someone, you cannot be sure that they are free from disease. Your close friends and family DO have things that they don’t tell you.”
All of the above serves to make this foundational point: When the sins of the flesh abound in a society, the citizens find it desirable to create more and more laws. If I am going to make the point that bureaucracy actually makes war on community, that bureaucracy can tear a community apart, I think I first need to acknowledge that not all communities are created equal. And the citizens of some communities honestly believe that bureaucracy is the only thing that can protect them from each other.
Christ brought a Truth that results in freedom. A sinful people required the Law to be spelled out to the minutest detail. A redeemed and regenerate people require the light burden of loving God and loving neighbor.
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