Maddi Runkles, a high school student in Heritage Academy, a private Christian school in the US has always been a good student.
She has a GPA of 4.0, played on the soccer team, and even became student council president. In spite of these achievements, she will sadly not be allowed to march alongside her fellow students during their graduation because she is pregnant.
She should not be shamed for choosing to keep her baby
Initially, the decision to not allow Maddi to march during her graduation, and even remove her from her student council position was to remain private. However, Maddi's family sought help from Students for Life, an anti-abortion group that also took Maddi to a rally in Washington D.C., to say that she should be praised, and not punished for making the decision to have her child.
Kristan Hawkins, the Students for Life president shares, "She made the courageous decision to choose life, and she definitely should not be shamed. There has got to be a way to treat a young woman who becomes pregnant in a graceful and loving way."
According to David Hobbs, an administrator at Heritage Academy, he said that Maddi would receive her diploma, but sadly they did not allow her to march during the graduation. Regarding her pregnancy, he said that it was "an internal issue about which much prayer and discussion has taken place.”
The situation is very complicated
When asked for his opinion, Brad Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia shared, "On the one hand, the school is seeking to maintain some kind of commitment to what has classically been called chastity — or today might be called abstinence. At the same time, there’s an expectation in many Christian circles that we are doing all that we can to honor life."
The situation is indeed very complicated, as on one hand, Maddi did the right thing by choosing life, but on the other hand, chastity and abstinence are important values for Christians.
His father, who was actually a part of the school board in Heritage Academy ultimately quit the board, because he was angry at how his daughter was treated.
He shares, "Typically, when somebody breaks a rule, you punish them at the time they break the rule. That way, the punishment is behind them and they’re moving forward with a clean slate. With Maddi, her punishment was set four months out. It’s ruined her senior year."
In spite of these setbacks, Maddi still believes that her unborn child is a blessing to her and her family. She plans to raise the baby boy with her family, however she declined to talk about the baby's father, and said that they don't have any plans of getting married.
"Some pro-life people are against the killing of unborn babies, but they won’t speak out in support of the girl who chooses to keep her baby. Honestly, that makes me feel like maybe the abortion would have been better. Then they would have just forgiven me, rather than deal with this visible consequence," Maddi shares.
Source: seattletimes.com
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