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January 21, 2005

University honors teacher who killed her baby

From CNSNews:
Villanova University on Thursday will dedicate a new section of its library to a star professor and student favorite who committed suicide in August 2003 while in jail. Mine Ener was behind bars after admitting she had killed her 6-month old, Down Syndrome-afflicted daughter by slashing the baby's throat.

Ener's friends say she suffered from post-partum depression as a result of her child's intensive health care needs and the feeling that the little girl would face a lifetime of misery.
I wonder how willing they would be to celebrate Andrea Yates, who similarly did her deed as an act of mercy.

Child advocates are understandably outraged at the inappropriateness of Villanova's action:
Child advocate and parenting education expert Dom Giordano said that while it's reasonable to sympathize over the depression Ener was experiencing, it is not acceptable for Villanova University to honor her.

"A lot of women have varying degrees of postpartum depression and they don't kill their child," Giordano told the Cybercast News Service. "What they ought to do is honor her by putting this money toward a research endowment at Villanova, toward post-partum depression ... that helps get the word out about how to avoid consequences like this."

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