Bastardette recently blogged about the tragic case of Jessica Scovil, an almost 9-month old baby who died after being left in a hot car by her foster mother.
While I am inclined to believe that Jessica’s death was a tragic accident, I am disturbed by the media’s insistence on referring to Jessica’s parents, Evelyn Carver and Robert Scovil, as “birthparents“.
Jessica had not been adopted by her foster parents. So why is the media referring to Jessica’s parents (who were working to get her back) as anything other than “parents”? To call someone a “birthparent” when their parental rights are still intact is not only inappropriate, in cases like this, it is just plain cruel.
Jessica Scovil had parents. The state took her away from them because they believed it to be in her best interests to be fostered by someone else, at least temporarily. But the state’s care for Jessica went horribly wrong, and she is being returned to her parents as a corpse.
Jessica’s obituary lists her parents as her parents. Her birth certificate lists her parents as her parents.
But the media can’t seem to get it right. In fact, it looks like nobody got it right in this case:
The state took Jessica away from her parents.
Jessica’s foster mother accidentally took away her life.
And now the media has taken away her parent’s “parenthood”.
Rest in peace, Jessica.
Stumble it!
