Joni (right) with Brycen Witwer (center) and his mom (left)
Posted on 09/08/2007 2:09:21 PM PDT by rhema
Every year we look forward to Doug volunteering at family retreats that we hold for disabled children and their moms and dads. He is young and athletic, a senior in college, handsome, articulate, and intelligent. The kids love him (and so do a few girl volunteers). When he first began volunteering, we assigned Doug to a little boy with Down syndrome. The two hit it off wonderfully. This energetic young man possessed a knack for relating to the boy; from that year onward, he always asked to be assigned to children with Down syndrome and their parents.
Recently Doug said, "Joni, when I get married, I hope that my wife and I will have a child with Down syndrome." I was startled, but chalked it up to youthful idealism. Since then, I have come to see that Doug meant what he said. He observed a special joy in children and adults with Down syndrome, as well as a godliness that strengthened his faith. He could also tell these children blessed the lives of the moms and dads to whom he administered over the years.
I thought of Doug earlier this year when the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists began recommending broader prenatal testing for Down syndrome among younger pregnant women. Up until this year, they recommended that only older women who were pregnant be tested. But now, all mothers-to-be are routinely tested. The results? Over 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis choose to have an abortion.
This breaks my heart. And it translates into a strange future for the kids Doug loves. It's going to be a lonely world for them—they will have far fewer friends with Down syndrome in the future. There are 5,500 children born with Down syndrome each year; they incur from mild to moderate mental retardation. These young people will now have fewer community programs, as well as reduced funds for medical research.
This is why there are growing numbers of parents crisscrossing the continent speaking to the blessings—even advantages—of raising a Down syndrome child. These parents are sharing their stories and explaining how a Down syndrome child can bless his siblings and draw a family closer together. They say that young women who are considering abortion don't understand, nor do they realize the benefits a Down syndrome baby brings to a family. Unfortunately, the only counsel these women are receiving from their obstetrician is often a brochure.
I am deeply concerned about this trend. Abortion is now used as a "disability prevention measure." The effort to eliminate Down syndrome translates into the worst kind of social engineering: the annihilation of an entire group of people who are precious. Our alternative: Accept the love and the God-blessed joys of raising a child—a life—that God has given. Jesus says, "Bless the little children, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Even children with Down syndrome.
A person with Down syndrome may never understand how to keep up with the Joneses or how to get over his head in debt. He or she may never be clever enough to sneak behind his spouse's back and look for an illicit affair (yes, men and women with Down syndrome do marry, and some of those marriages are honest-to-goodness models to neighbors and friends). They won't be cunning enough to know how to cheat, weave lies, or how to stab a friend in the back. People with Down syndrome may not have driver's licenses, but then again, neither do I—and I get around quite well for a quadriplegic.
That new ruling by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is a sad reflection of the growing premise in our society that a person is "better off dead than disabled." Human beings are no longer being treated as people, but as things that can be dispensed with, altered, aborted, or euthanized. The medically fragile—whether the elderly, the unborn, or the children Doug serves—are left exposed and vulnerable in a society that has lost its moral bearings, its heart.
—Joni Eareckson Tada is founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center
Joni (right) with Brycen Witwer (center) and his mom (left)
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And euthanasia is being used as a "disability termination measure."
This isn't a social engineering polcy, it's a populist movement.
A ticket-taker at a local movie theatre is clearly Down syndrome. I always enjoy seeing her there — her unfailing cheeriness is always a lift.
When someone writes an honest historical account of the U.S. in this era, they’ll marvel at how the Nazis won World War II even though the Germans lost.
and because of this trend, a healthy twin was accidentally murdered because her sister was discovered to have Downs.
They aborted the wrong baby.
You would have thought the parents reconsider about aborting the remaining infant?
No - they subsequently killed that one too.
In my contact with these patients I was struck by the fact that,almost without exception,they were very kind and gentle and,perhaps,the ones who *weren't* so kind and gentle were that way when I saw them because they weren't feeling well.
Just wait until they isolate the alleged "gay gene", then watch the liberals wring their hands in the great dilemma as parents start aborting potential gay babies in their thousands..
It is obvious that Down’s Syndrome kids get the “happy gene”.
They employ a few of them at my supermarket and it is always a pleasure to encounter them.
The young family that I know with a Down’s Syndrome child was told that the markers were there and she needed to hurry to get the abortion. They couldn’t believe she wouldn’t.
He has so much love in him and everyone loves him back. When he was little he really fell in love with my husband and my son and would sit in their laps for hours and cry if his mother tried to take him.
A tragedy in the making! These are the angels sent to show us true purity of heart.
I think the lady is more concerned about the possibility of reduced funding for her programs
In my weekly Bible study, two of our older members-(widow & widower) who met each other & married recently...
..each has a Down's syndrome adult child...one in his 30's and one in his 50's....
They are quiet, respectful, sweet, helpful and go with their parents on 'mission trips' and work very hard at what they can do.
They are lovely and so are the parents!
That was my thought too.
Joni ping...
Good grief, killing unborn babies with Down Syndrome is insane.
My nephew has Down’s and he is probably the favorite nephew of all. Everyone loves him and his mother even went so far as to say that every family should have a Down’s kid. A friend of mine has a Down’s boy who just turned 20. They always had high expectations for him, required a lot from him and babied him as little as possible. He flourishes and recently graduated from home school, is working through our county office to get a job at Home Depot or Lowes and helps his Dad on construction jobs...as much as he is able. I watched him show his market hog at the 4H show in August and you won’t find a more honest, hard-working, conscientious, likeable kid. Everyone loves him.
Another family I know has a Down’s kid who is undisciplined and bratty because his parents never held him to any standard and always babied him...so he is a handful and always will be. He is rude, has no manners and not many people want to be around him.
I shop frequently at the ‘handicap’ thrift store..as we call it. And, my favorite people there are the Down’s people. Wonderful, happy people, mostly.
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