Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) spent the weekend questioning whether it is morally permissible for people to give birth to children because of climate change.
“There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult,” Ocasio-Cortez told her Instagram followers. “And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it OK to still have children?”
“There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it okay to still have children?”
—@AOCReminds me of the Green New Deal FAQ:
👉https://t.co/3RtWZeVbJZhttps://t.co/TWTYJvbb0P— Jerry Dunleavy 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) February 25, 2019
The self-described Democratic Socialist went on to call the query “a basic moral question” young people are asking.
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments, though, seemed to have to do with one thing: the promotion of her radical Green New Deal, a progressive pipe dream that would entirely eliminate the country’s carbon footprint within 10 years.
Really, Ocasio-Cortez has nothing to worry about. According to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the birth rate in the U.S. has been steadily falling for years. In fact, 2017 — the most recent year for which data is available — marks the seventh straight year the fertility rate has fallen.
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In 2017, the nationwide fertility rate was 1,765.5 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age — 16 percent below the fertility level necessary to keep the population stable, 2,100 births per 1,000 women.
But as someone who describes herself as Catholic, Ocasio-Cortez should understand the value of human life and appreciate children as the most valuable resource on earth.
Psalm 127:3-5 describes children as “a heritage from the Lord” and “like arrows in the hand of a warrior.” The passage continues, “Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”
And in the New Testament, Jesus places incredible value on children. During his earthly ministry, the Son of God sought out kids, rebuking his disciples for assuming he was uninterested in spending time with them because they were young.
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In Mark’s New Testament account of Jesus’ life, the apostle described Jesus as “indignant” when he learned his disciples were shooing children away from him. He told them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Human life — the only part of God’s creation designed in his perfect image — is the greatest value on earth and it must be protected, celebrated and encouraged. For Ocasio-Cortez to suggest anything else is to turn away from the faith in which she claims to believe.
Practicing wise stewardship over the earth God’s given us and continuing to multiply, as Scripture commands, are not mutually exclusive tasks. So the answer to the 29-year-old politician’s question is simple: yes, it is still OK to have children.