Seth Udinski, FISM News

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Throughout history, children have widely been seen as a blessing. In cultures built upon a Judeo-Christian worldview, children are seen as a gift from God. As the Psalmist says, children are like “arrows in the quiver of a warrior.”  In the secular 21st century, however, this is not always the case.  In a recent development in Chile, at least 140 women have reported unwanted pregnancies as the result of a mistake in their birth control pills.

According to journalist Ernesto Londono of The New York Times, the pills themselves were not the issue.  Rather, the pills were packaged in the wrong order, with women taking placebo pills when they assumed they were taking birth control.  Almost 300,000 packages, sold by two Chilean companies owned by the German pharmaceutical group Grunenthal, were recalled in August of 2020 after the mistake was caught.

The response from many has been one of outrage and frustration at the “inconvenience” of an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy.  Marlisett Guisel Rain Rain, a 37-year old mother who had a defective packet and is now pregnant, said it was “very hard to come to terms with the pregnancy.”  Melanie Riffo, a 20-year old who also had a flawed packet and became pregnant, said that she “could not make sense” of her pregnancy.  A Chilean reproductive rights activist group called Miles is preparing a lawsuit against the Chilean government.

In the midst of the tragic disregard of infant lives and the serious error on the part of the pharmaceutical industry in Chile, this development has a silver lining.  Compared to some nations (including the United States), Chile has many relatively strict anti-abortion laws in place.  Hopefully, these laws will protect the 140 little lives, who were conceived, against pre-birth infanticide.