As genetic testing has become a standard in prenatal healthcare, doctors have been able to more accurately predict the likelihood of gene mutations in preborn infants. This includes trisomy 21, a chromosomal defect which results in Down Syndrome.
The impact of this has been devastating.
Ninety-two percent of mothers who test positive for trisomy 21 in prenatal screenings choose to abort, according to research by Dr Brian Skotko, director of the Down Syndrome Department at Massachusetts General.
Doctors often persuade parents to abort, citing possible health defects and the overall burden of parenting a child with a disability.
Yes, mothers and fathers across the country are deciding to abort because it would be too hard, too much work. Because they didn't want a disabled child. "Woops, this ones a screw-up, let's just start over and hope for the best."
Upon realizing the selfishness of this justification of abortion, one may choose to pivot to a seemingly more empathetic approach. Life will be more difficult for this child. Often times children with Down Syndrome are born with heart defects and may require surgery. Not to mention the learning and developmental delays that present opportunities for bullying.
These people are claiming that because life will be harder, these kids are better off dead.
Nevermind that people with Down Syndrome report higher levels of happiness and self-satisfaction. A study from Children's Hospital Boston surveyed 284 people with Down Syndrome; 99% reported that they were happy with their lives, 97% were happy with who they were, and 96% liked the way that they looked. That is a hell of a lot higher than the general population. According to a 2017 Harris Poll, just 33% of Americans surveyed said that they were happy.
It doesn't seem like life is too hard for those with Down Syndrome after all.
The promotion of infanticide of children with disabilties should frighten every single one of us. Should this continue, will we live in a Down Syndrome free world? As genetic tests evolve, where will the line be drawn? Will they be used to eradicate any and all possible disease?
There is a very slippery slope here. If killing babies with Down Syndrome is justified, what should stop people from creating a perfect Human race? If disability equals lack of all value, what about children who are born blind or deaf? What about those with Autism or other mental disorders? Where do they fit in an increasingly "perfect" society?
The Pro-Life movement knows that every life has value. Every life is better off lived than not. To not even give these children a chance at life is one of the greatest atrocities of our time.
Today, we look back on historical events such as the Holocaust and think, how could anyone ever do such a thing? How can something so sinister have ever existed in this world?
We ask these questions while blinded to the evil occurring before our eyes. We mask it with phrases like "reproductive rights" and "pro-choice." We block out the truth, as those before us have done.
The abortion of children with Down Syndrome rips the mask off of the Pro-Choice movement. It isn't about a choice. It isn't about freedom.
It's about the unwanted.
The Pro-Choice movement stands on the souls of the unwelcome, burdensome, and entirely innocent children who were denied the right to live.
They call it an empowering choice. A woman seizing control of her own body.
In reality, it is one of the greatest horrors ever justified by law.
It erases all traces of a moral society.
I, and many other members of the Pro-Life movement fear what could come from its continued legality.
Millions more lives lost, of course. But, what next? If killing the most innocent among us is legal, even celebrated, what can't be done?
In the words of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?"
