A Life for A Life: A Health and Science Social Psychology Blog

What would be your first priority, your health or your unborn baby? The common motherly instinct would be to always put the child life’s first, no matter how high the risk. That is what Carrie DeKlyen, wife and mother of five, did when she was diagnosed with brain cancer while carrying her sixth child as reported by Fox news on September 22nd, 2017. She was in a
stage where she was in dire need of chemotherapy but it would interfere with her pregnancy.
Some could imagine in this situation, her close family and friends might’ve suggested for her to go through with the chemotherapy and choose to live. Her declining the treatment puts her at risk
of leaving her husband and her five children behind. But Carrie DeKlyen didn’t care to put her life over her baby and strongly didn’t believe in abortion due to her religious beliefs. Unfortunately three days after giving birth to her baby Carrie DeKlyen passed, and her baby
being born premature also ten days later died in the hospital.
The Just World Hypothesis states if you’re a
good person, good things will happen to you. If
you’re a bad person, bad things will happen to you.
Some can view this tragedy and think that Carrie
DeKlyen was a selfless person to give up her own
life her baby to have a chance to live, and those who are against abortion could view Ms. DeKlyen as a hero. Those who would view Carrie DeKlyen as a good person could seek the positives in the situation, like that her story has been spread throughout the world and now have
touched the lives of many people. Some could also try to paint Carrie DeKlyen as a bad person, and say she was selfish for declining the chemotherapy being that she has five other children and
her husband. Some can say that she is bad for risking her own life and leaving her family, and would use that as justification or reason as to why she and her baby both passed. People often feel uncomfortable when the Just World Hypothesis comes to be untrue, so they may try to find
the karma in the situation, because it’s hard to think that maybe bad things can happen to good people and that good things can happen to bad people. At the end of the day, not in all cases will
there be a happy ending.
Confirmation Bias is where people look for evidence to confirm their views and beliefs. Carrie came from a religious background of the Christian faith and there are many beliefs that Christians have based on what they are taught in church and what they read in the Bible. The New Testament reads “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, The New King James Version) which encourages Christians that there is a purpose to their pain and it all will be worth it in the end when the
purpose is revealed. Sonya Nelson announced her sister’s fate on Facebook Thursday September 21, 2017 and posted “’Carrie is now rocking her baby girl. I have no explanation of why this happened, but I do know Jesus loves us and someday we will know why (Fox News, 2017). This is a clear example of confirmation bias, where Carrie DeKlyen’s sister is using her faith to make justification of the tragic events that occurred within her family. Christians also believe that there is life after death, and that the Earth is not their homes but Heaven is, and if they believe in their faith’s teachings and live a good life they will be in heaven. When Carrie’s sister said that she was “rocking her baby girl”, that was her using confirmation bias to confirm her beliefs that there is a heaven and her sister’s suffering led her to a place of eternal happiness.
Concepts like the Just World Hypothesis and Confirmation Bias both play a role at times in people’s situations, and can have a big effect on how some people decide to view their situations and cope. Whether it is used positively or negatively, both bring a sense of comfort
and a sense of control. The DeKlyen’s story is a tragic one but also is a positive story of a woman of faith choosing to be selfless for her baby to have a chance of life, and inductive reasoning proves as a way of coping and bringing light into any dark situation.
Written by Stamyr R.
References
T. (2017, September 22). Baby whose mother chose to give birth over chemotherapy dies [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/09/21/baby-whose-mother-chose-to-give-birth-over-chemotherapy-dies.html
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