January 21, 2007 11:23 PM
The continuing attack on babies with Down syndrome
George Will, the brilliant conservative columnist, whose son Jon has Down syndrome, wrote this piece (HT to Rebecca) for his regular page in Newsweek this week:
Jon, a sweet-tempered man, was born the year before Roe v. Wade inaugurated this era of the casual destruction of pre-born babies. And he was born just as prenatal genetic tests were becoming routine. Since then, it has become routine to abort babies like Jon because they are like Jon. Without this combination of diagnostic advances and moral regression, there would be more people like Jon, and the world would be a sweeter place.America has, however, become a more congenial, welcoming place for its Down syndrome citizens who have escaped "screening.". . .
Jon was born at the end of the era in which institutionalization of the retarded was considered morally acceptable, but in what was still an era of gross ignorance: In the first year of Jon's life, a network-television hospital drama featured a doctor telling parents of a Down syndrome newborn that their child would probably never be toilet-trained. But ignorance lingers. There are doctors who still falsely counsel parents that a Down syndrome person will never read, write or count change. Such doctors should not try to get between Jon and his USA Today sports section.
In 1972, the odds were heavily against Jon's living as long as he already has lived. Just 25 years ago, the life expectancy of Down syndrome people was 25. Today, because of better health care, better mental stimulation in schools and homes, and better community acceptance, their life expectancy is 56.
Jon has a disability, but he also has some things most men would like to have—season tickets for Nationals and Orioles baseball, Redskins football, Capitals hockey and Georgetown University basketball. He gets to and from games (and to his work three days a week for the Nationals at RFK Stadium) by himself, taking public transportation to and from his apartment.
Read entire article here.
Jon Will occupies a special place in this mama's heart because six weeks after Jonny was born, George Will published a piece in Newsweek honoring his son't 21st birthday, called Jon Will's Aptitudes.
Jon has Down syndrome, a chromosomal defect involving varying degrees of mental retardation and physical abnormalities. Jon lost, at the instant he was conceived, one of life's lotteries, but he also was lucky: His physical abnormalities do not impede his vitality and his retardation is not so severe that it interferes with life's essential joys--receiving love, returning it, and reading baseball box scores.One must mind one's language when speaking of people like Jon. He does not "suffer from" Down syndrome. It is an affliction, but he is happy--as happy as the Orioles' stumbling start this season will permit. You may well say that being happy is easy now that ESPN exists. Jon would agree. But happiness is a species of talent, for which some people have superior aptitudes.
Entire article reprinted here.
What's wrong with prenatal testing for Down syndrome is that since there is no "cure" for Down syndrome, it's simply aimed at giving the parents the chance to abort the baby. All this talk of being prepared is nonsense. The fact is that 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are currently being aborted.
It's one thing to be holding a beautiful baby in your arms while being told he or she has Down syndrome and quite another to be told before you've met your baby face to face. Unfortunately, I'm afraid, even Christian parents rationalize abortion under these circumstances (I know personally of two cases) - as George Will points out, leaving the world a less happy place.
For more about my son Jonny and the three boys we've since adopted with Down syndrome, click on Categories above and then click Down syndrome.
Also, check out my photo gallery of Jonny at my website
Posted in Disabilities, Down syndrome, Pro-Life Issues | Permalink
Comments
Thanks for posting this Barbara.
As a mother of a child with DS, the recent news about testing certainly brings an immediate need to get the word out.
It saddens me greatly thinking about the fact that a parent would abort a child based solely on the diagnosis of DS, and knowing that this testing will become routine is frightening. I can't find a single reason why this testing is necessary for all. While I am not against a woman's choice to have this testing done, and I respect that choice, I can't understand the need for it to be universal for all mothers.
Physicians are at the helm of the outcome of such testing, and most of them just don't do a good job of presenting DS in a way that at a minimum at least allows parent(s) to seek support before making that decision.
Getting the big picture, all of the possibilities should be MANDATORY.
Posted by: Rebecca P. | January 22, 2007 12:02 AM
I know of one women who just found out Friday that her baby has an extra chromosome. Although I have tried to heap all kinds of adoption info on her, even offering to personally find adoptive parents, she plans to terminate....Breaks my heart.
Posted by: chewymom | January 22, 2007 7:29 AM
None of my kids have DS, but understanding that the only reason for the testing was abortion, I've been declining all genetic testing for the last four kids. I'll find out during the ultrasound or when he or she is born. There's no reason to know ahead of time.
Posted by: Jennie C. | January 22, 2007 8:16 AM
I have to voice a slightly different opinion this time. While I agree it's wrong to screen for purposes of abortion, and I would personally never abort a pregnancy for such a reason, the perspective of my grandmother and an aunt, both of whom delivered babies with Down's syndrome with minimal medical care, changed my opinion.
You are aware of the medical difficulties that some children with Down's syndrome face, from the moment they're born. If we know that there's a strong possibility of a child having an extra chromosome, my husband and I wouldn't hesitate to seek the very best medical care available--meaning we would not deliver at the community hospital we love so much.
Instead we would plan on delivering at the regional medical center, with the best NICU in the state, though the drive is a bit longer. I feel it would avoid heartache and troubles arising from me recuperating in one hospital and the baby being cared for in another, as well as the stress of transporting a newborn who may be in a fairly unstable condition.
I feel that screening tools can be useful, and are important especially for women who live in rural areas with only basic medical care available at their local hospitals.
That's what's so wonderful about this blog. I feel comfortable voicing a dissenting opinion. Thank you, Barbara, for fostering an open and communicative environment for your readers.
Posted by: Emily | January 22, 2007 11:48 AM
Barbara, this is one time I heartily disagree. I would like to know ahead of the birth. That way we can prepare our extended family and our church family for the new experience. We can educate folks ahead of the birth about down syndrome and alleviate some problems right after the birth when both parents are exhausted. It won't make everything perfect, but time can help when intruducing a group of people to a new idea, or updated information. Time can be very helpful at that point. Plus, I would like the time before the birth to prepare myself for that change. The life and future for my baby will be different then I imagined and I think it is healthy to mourn that change and allow God time to form a new dream, new expectations for the down syndrome child. ALthough I recognize that a parent's dream for their child will never play out as expected. I think expecting a down syndrome child would be a big change, and that needs some time to work itself out in the heart.
Posted by: Imajackson | January 22, 2007 12:48 PM
"The fact is that 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are currently being aborted."
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid, even Christian parents rationalize abortion under these circumstances (I know personally of two cases)"
Oh, how my heart is grieving hearing that statistic. It breaks my heart. Thank you for sharing that bit of information. I simply cannot imagine my life without the children and adults with Downs that I have known.
In Christ alone,
Kari
Posted by: Kari | January 22, 2007 12:57 PM
I love your story about Jon! My cousin has Down's, and I must say I was nervous for my son, hoping he would not have it; however, also knowing, that God would never give me a child I could not handle. I know that there is no way my little guy could not be in my life, with or without a "disability". I am amazed with people that would abort their child, saying that it was best for the child....how could they know? Look at the influence Helen Keller has been...!!!!
Thanks for your blog! It is wonderful!
Posted by: Michelle | January 22, 2007 3:10 PM
Barbara,
Thank you for sharing these articles as well as your beautiful family with us. I cannot imagine what my young years would have been like without the friendship of little Muriel. I never realized that she was different until I went to school and she had to go to a different school. She is now a remarkable woman in her forties who has a full-time job and lives in an apartment with several other women with disabilities – they didn’t expect her to live to be a teenager. She is one of the most generous and loving people that I know and she also has a wicked sense of humor!
Thanks for the insight, inspiration and humor that you so generously share!
K.
Posted by: Kelley | January 22, 2007 3:13 PM
what wonderful articles! I love to hear stories like that (the accomplishments and such!).
And cute pics of Jonny! Where was the one on the rock taken? It looks so familiar to me (the top of the world one).
Posted by: millicent | January 22, 2007 5:01 PM
I am not against the process of testing, as I mentioned in my comments, I am against the outcome that leads to certain death of so many children whose lives would otherwise be complete—but never given a chance as a result of the whole gloom and doom perspective of the medical profession.
It is not the end of the world to give birth to a child with DS, it just isn’t.
Being closer to a hospital that can provide specialized care is I suppose nice if you know there may be a problem, however, many children are born at home even with the diagnosis. There is always a potential for things to go wrong during labor and delivery, not to mention the odds of having a child that is premature or may have other issues unrelated to any specific cause.
The creation of such testing was purposeful. It determines specifically whether a child has DS. It doesn’t require a great deal of knowledge to determine that the goal is exclusion of such individuals from our population. It’s wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
As Barbara stated, the majority of those who are told about the diagnosis elect abortion merely because of the diagnosis.
Again, as the parent of a child with DS, born outside of a hospital in a whirlpool surrounded by those we love, who didn't have ANY prenatal testing and gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl ever just about two and half years ago, I cannot imagine my life without her.
She has taught me so much about the true meaning of life. There is nothing about her life that is any different from the lives of my other children—all of them are worthy of living.
We don’t know prior to a child’s birth whether or not they will have allergies, asthma, and many times we don’t screen out heart defects or other so-called anomalies. I can’t agree that this testing has the best interest of parent(s) in mind.
They didn’t spend thousands of dollars, time, and energy creating this test merely so a person could be closer to a big regional hospital—it just isn’t so. There would be no purpose in doing so.
Posted by: Rebecca P. | January 22, 2007 7:26 PM
George Will has always been one of my favorite political commentators--now he REALLY is! Thanks!
Posted by: Rocks in my Dryer | January 22, 2007 9:16 PM
We had the conventional (alpha fetal protein) screening during my pregnancy with my daughter. That test failed to show she had DS. With my next pregnancy I had the amniocentesis, I really did not want to be surprised again.
I would never (a word I am careful of using) abort a pregnancy, but I would have liked to have been better prepared.
Sadly the idea of "stamping out birth defects," has been perverted into "stamping out defective births." (not that I see my daughter or anyone else as defective, just trying to make a point.)
We live in a time when there is greater opportunity for people with disabilities then ever before, and for the first time in history, we are encouraged rob them of their most fundamental right, the right to life.
Ironically, I need to type the first letter of the word "Terminate" in order to complete this post.
Posted by: wanderingrose | January 22, 2007 10:38 PM
I opted to have the test, but only to help me be better prepared if my child was born with Downs. That statistic of 90% is heartbreaking, but so believable... our cultural norm is to try to make life easier; unfortunately at the loss of unborn babies' rights.
Thank you for continuing to raise awareness of the precious gifts found in children with special needs.
Posted by: lauren | January 22, 2007 10:41 PM
Sorry about the extra spacing Barbara, not quite sure what I did that caused it.
Posted by: Rebecca P. | January 22, 2007 11:18 PM
Barbara. Thank you for your story and the link. Such a great, special story everyone should read. Shannon in Austin :)
Posted by: Shannon Best | January 23, 2007 4:45 PM
Barbara,
The birthmother of the baby girl with Downs that we offered to adopt has decided not to terminate! Also, an ultrasound revealed that the baby doesn't have a hole in her heart! It also looks like this Christian couple have decided to parent. We couldn't be happier for them!
We are so thrilled to have had the honor to be a part of this little baby's life, even if it were just for a few moments before she is born. Thanks for your support, and for all the wonderful resources it was so easy to find through your blog!
Posted by: Amy Lu | January 23, 2007 6:44 PM
There are so many great comments to this post, saying exactly what I, as the mother of a 4 year old daughter with Down Syndrome would say, EXCEPT, I have an upcoming article in Faith and Family magazine on how Our Lord gave me a spiritual insight that Christina would have Down's. Of course, I tried to reject it as hormonal ruminations, but, thankfully, I did tell my husband, so when she was born, and the doctor said that she did have Down's, we had been prepared. We had refused all tests,because as Catholics we can't abort,and the nurses were stunned at our composure. God provides for all our needs.
Posted by: Leticia | January 25, 2007 8:53 PM
After having a targeted ultrasound that showed none of the soft or hard markers for downs syndrome I was shocked when the results of the amnio came back and to hear my doctor say on the phone that our little girl had downs syndrome. She will be born in February 2009, as she is still our precious gift from God. Knowing ahead of time will help us accept, learn and be prepared as much as we can. It gives us time to find a simple way to explain this to her big brother, my eight your old son. While we have decided and didn't even consider an abortion I do believe that everyone has the right to know and to make their own decisions.
Posted by: Lindsey | October 22, 2008 9:30 AM
