To start, researching for this article broke my heart. No human, especially a newborn baby, need suffer such a horrendous death. The callous behavior poor Alex Fierro allegedly suffered at the hands of his mother demonstrates the worst aspects of our broken culture. The story of Alex Fierro represents how our culture, which celebrates “reproductive rights” as a virtue, lessens the value of human life in its most vulnerable form. There exists no great leap from “consequence free” sexual activity and the fate of Alex Fierro. And given the extreme abortion laws in New Mexico (up to birth), the absurdity increases.
Tragedy in Artesia, New Mexico
According to the New York Post, Alexee Trevizo, 19, of Artesia, New Mexico, was charged on May 10th, 2023, with first degree murder in the death of her newborn son. The child, other reports call Alex, was born alive in a hospital bathroom, wrapped in a trash liner, placed in a trash can, and then covered by another trash liner. Cleaning personnel later found the deceased newborn in the trash can after noticing its unusual weight. Trevizo claims she had no idea of her pregnancy, a claim contradicted by friends, and reacted in shock to an apparent stillborn baby. Police later arrested Trevizo after an autopsy showed oxygen in the newborn infant’s lungs. In short, Alex Fierro was born alive and intentionally killed by his mother. As I stated in my opening comments—tragedy.
An Often-Overlooked Reality in New Mexico
Sadly, an often-overlooked reality in New Mexico (and stories like those of Alex Fierro) are New Mexico’s extreme abortion access laws. According to Americans United for Life, New Mexico allows extreme abortion access, which means throughout the whole pregnancy (or up to birth). It also has an abortion clinic that specializes in abortion passed 32 weeks of gestation. Furthermore, New Mexico’s Democratic Governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, signed an Executive Order protecting abortion access after the Dobbs decision in 2022. This reality represented in both the tragic end to Alex Fierro’s life and New Mexico’s extreme abortion access share a glaring connection: the total disregard for the vulnerable of human life.
Murder Vs. Reproductive Rights
Moreover, what is the difference (at least in New Mexico) between murder and reproductive rights in the case of Alex Fierro? The difference is that Alex Fierro experienced birth and started to breathe on his own. Had his mother chosen to visit an abortion clinic before Alex’s birth, a doctor could have legally taken his life with no crime occurring. Sadly, Alex’s body (probably dismembered) would have ended up in a different type of waste disposal (medical waste). Again, according to New Mexico abortion law, if Alexee Trevizo used a doctor to kill her unborn son, no crime exists. But, since she killed him herself after Alex’s birth, she now must stand trial for first-degree murder.
Had Alex not traveled the birth canal and been killed in utero by a licensed doctor mere hours before, his mother would not be accused of murder, but celebrated by some for exercising her reproductive rights. To “shout” her abortion.
Dignity of the Human Person Based on Location?
Now, the above heading seems a bit silly. Of course, the dignity of the human person relies not on location. It relies on the sacredness of the human person. The Catholic Church calls the dignity of the human person “the foundation of a moral vision for society.” A key part of this foundation is love of neighbor, regardless of location or stage of development. Pope Francis put it perfectly when he stated:
Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. [Gaudete et Exsultate]
Abortion represents the most extreme example of sin against human dignity and violation of the common good. Those in the womb cannot defend themselves. They also cannot speak for themselves. Therefore, the unborn require others to defend and speak from them.
The Church’s Strong Language on Abortion
Due to the severity of abortion, the Catholic Church pulls no punches in its language. The Catechism of the Catholic Church leaves no doubt regarding the Church position. It states in paragraph 2272:
Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. “A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,” “by the very commission of the offense,” and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law. The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society. [emphasis added]
Excommunication is the harshest ecclesial punishment in the Church. Recently, a form of this made the news when San Francisco archbishop Salvatore Cordileone publicly denied former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi communion within his archdiocese. Clearly, the archbishop considered Pelosi’s public support of abortion and abortion laws as “formal cooperation.” From what I found, Governor Lujan Grisham also identifies as Catholic.
The Link Between “Consequence-Free” Sex, Abortion, and Alex Fierro
Clearly, the line from “consequence-free” sex and the tragic death of baby Alex Fierro is an easy one to trace. Our culture celebrates, while at the same time denies, human sexuality. Sex is for pleasure. Human sexuality is immutable. Just like humans need to breathe, so too do humans need sexual activity. Body counts earn peer respect. Our culture frowns upon or declares impossible the practice of traditional marriage and waiting until marriage to engage in sexual activity. Children created from natural reproduction are called “accidents.” With no human rights, these “accidents” exist at the mercy of their mothers. If their mothers want them, they get to live. If not, they die. However, only as long as they reside within her. Once they make the ontological journey through the birth canal, they receive rights, and like with Alex Fierro, if their mother kills them, she gets charged with murder.
Those who defend the “right” to take such innocent life also do with clarity, firmness, and passion but for far different reasons. Autonomy, freedom, and sex without consequence trump any life created in the pro-creative act. Even politicians like Pelosi and Lujan Grisham celebrate killing the innocent in the womb but call it “reproductive health.” When the most innocent of human life becomes so devalued as to become “medical waste,” it should not shock us as a society when some mothers dispose of their born children in such a way. The line, once drawn, becomes clear.
Final Thoughts
Alex Fierro deserved better, as do all the aborted babies in New Mexico, especially those aborted close to birth. If an abortion doctor killed Alex Fierro in a late term abortion, no one would know his name today. Nor would the governor of New Mexico care, or Nancy Pelosi, or any other extreme abortion politician, mostly Democrats. Due to this fact, in the words of Pope Francis, and paragraph 2272 of the catechism, I cannot in good conscience vote for Democrat politicians. By doing so, I would formally cooperate in the grave matter of abortion, as I would be an accessory to aborted deaths by supporting pro-abortion politicians. Moreover, no appeal to “the greater good” of progressive polices will ever remove the stain of guilt of the innocent blood spilled in order to achieve those “good” polices.
For the sake of the unborn, and the newly born victims of violence like Alex Fierro, we need to reexamine our national soul as it relates to human dignity. Countless unborn are disposed of the same way as Alex, but no one cares. Furthermore, a society that justifies killing the unborn so close to birth, while also condemning the killing of the born after birth, lives in denial and contradiction. All human life is precious and sacred. May we, as a nation, one day come to understand and believe this obvious truth.
Thank you!
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