The murder of newborn Kayleen Lee by her parents in a bathtub was a horrific tragedy. What they did with her little body accentuates the shock. It permeated the evening news and we will undoubtedly hear more. People expressed horror. “How could anyone do that?”

But five inches — the average length of the birth canal — earlier little Kayleen could have been murdered in a terrible way by strangers, disposed of in a no less undignified way and it would have been routine. No press coverage. No expressions of horror.

Indeed, Kayleen’s mom would have been affirmed in her choice. Nothing to see here. Nothing wrong. Perhaps she would have been given one of those signs, “I shout my abortion” or “I celebrate my abortion.”

Reports indicate Kayleen’s mom and dad were in a bad situation. They were afraid, on drugs, in a panic. But their inexcusable choice to murder their newborn daughter was not just the result of their panic and fear. They grew up in a culture where killing little babies is an acceptable solution to panic and fear.

There were other options, life giving options, but they were blinded to the choice of life due to their own selfishness and to a societal climate that offers death as an acceptable solution. I, and all of us, share in the shame of what happened by our tacit acceptance for decades.

Kayleen’s parents are in for tough times. They rightly must suffer the consequences of their deadly choice. When the fog of mind and circumstances clears and reality sets in, their hearts will be crushed.

I pray it will happen because then they will realize they need something greater than themselves. I will pray that they will find help for their broken heats, the kind of help Christians have been giving for decades to women and men crushed by having their child murdered prior to birth.

We do not judge. We love. We help. We forgive as God in Jesus has forgiven us our many terrible decisions. It’s what we do.

I ask all who read this to put aside your political views and think. Ponder it in your heart. Five inches?