Unsettling Advent 2024, Day 11
“Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:4-5)
Before my son’s birth, my wife and I drove a few minutes to the hospital in the Virginia city where we lived to attend a childbirth class. Some of the other parents-to-be lived more than an hour away on the other side of the Allegheny Mountain ridge marking the boundary of West Virginia. Since the class’s babies would all arrive in winter, I wondered about the extra worrying that must come from fearing the hospital route could be cut off by a winter storm in the mountains.
Such scenarios for prospective parents have increased. More than half of rural hospitals no longer provide obstetrical care, increasing drive times and decreasing prenatal care. This has created maternity care deserts, with about one-third of the nation’s counties offering little or no access to maternal health services. Such maternity care deserts are linked to inadequate prenatal care and an increase in maternal deaths.
That trend will increase as more hospitals stop delivering babies since strict state abortion bans criminalize doctors who provide emergency procedures to save the lives of women. Some emergency rooms have refused to treat pregnant women in need of medical attention, including women in Florida and Texas who miscarried in public restrooms after being turned away. Some hospitals have even shipped women in need of a life-saving abortion to other states, a risky trip that wastes critical time. Lawmakers in several states want to criminalize out-of-state travel for an abortion.
Two thousand years ago, Mary found herself suddenly pregnant in a time with a high maternal mortality rate. Then came a dangerous trip sparked by the demands of politicians. Given her condition and the hilly terrain, scholars suggest Mary and Joseph wouldn’t have traveled more than 10 miles per day. So the trip would’ve taken a week or longer to complete in the desert weather amid the threat of lions and bandits. Our polished nativities and cute children’s pageants hardly do justice to the grueling nature of the journey to Bethlehem.
Sadly, some politicians today overlook Mary’s troubles to justify moves to further burden pregnant women. Like in Wisconsin, where a state representative earlier this year referenced Mary, her relative Elizabeth, and the ancient Hebrew matriarch Sarah to justify a strict abortion ban. He argued that since God made those three women pregnant, then it was fine for the state to force women to continue a dangerous pregnancy. His effort to weaponize the Bible and exploit Mary’s pain and faith ultimately failed. It serves as a reminder that Caesars will always seek ways to make the journey difficult for women.
Brian Kaylor is president & editor-in-chief of Word&Way and co-author of Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism.