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A lawyer changes her mind. Janine Steck Huffman has a child with Down’s syndrome. But years before she gave birth to her son Nash, she was partly responsible for the legal starvation death of Baby Doe, another child born with the same condition. Baby Doe was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in April 1982. Besides Down syndrome, he had esophageal atresia, which prevented him from eating. Without a simple operation, he would starve to death. When Baby Doe’s mother saw him for the first time, she reportedly said, “You look beautiful. You look different from my other two, but I love...

Disclaimer: "Who Should Survive" was produced in 1971. The language used in this film to refer to and describe Baby Doe was acceptable 40 to 50 years ago. We recognize that is no longer the case and that such language is now disrespectful and offensive.We urge the use of "people first" language and more respectful words to describe people with disabilities in all instances, in both spoken and written language. This film, however, is historical, and the language and terminology used throughout the film has been left intact to retain the historical context in which it was produced. Eunice Kennedy...

Worldwide, most babies known to have Down syndrome are aborted. US statistics vary, but one study put the overall number at 67%. People Who Want to Abort Babies with Down Syndrome Give Their Reasons Rayna Rapp, who aborted a baby with Down syndrome herself, interviewed parents who were waiting for the results of Down syndrome screenings. These parents all intended to abort their babies if they tested positive. Here are some of their comments: · I would have a very hard time dealing with a retarded child… I would feel grief, not having what I consider a normal family.1 ·...

Days after Mattel announced their first ever Barbie with Down syndrome, a self-described pro-life conservative political commentator released a video on Twitter mocking the doll. Social media users quickly reacted with outrage. In the video posted to Twitter, Steven Crowder and his co-hosts can be heard snickering and laughing over an Inside Edition feature promoting the doll. “With r*tard strength!” they can be heard saying over the promo, adding, “Is this real? This is real.” They continued to laugh as model Ellie Goldstein, who has Down syndrome, appeared holding one of the Down syndrome Barbies. “Well, here’s the thing, they...

— A Wisconsin couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Catholic hospital which gave a dangerous combination of drugs to their daughter and then refused to resuscitate her shortly before her death. Grace Schara, a 19-year old with Down syndrome, died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (Ascension Health) in October 2021 after being administered a sedative, an anxiety medication, and morphine, which are known to hasten severe hypoxia when taken together, according to the lawsuit. Grace was already sedated on maximum doses of Precedex the morning before her death when she was given Lorazepam, which “can increase the risk of serious...

This is the moment a cold-hearted carer struck a vulnerable patient in the face hours before the man died from a cardiac arrest. Dami Tobi Ayan 'man-handled' Ben King by pushing him to the ground and dragging him by the arms before slapping him with an open hand. Cowardly Ayan, 62, was then caught on camera looking around and checking no one was there before hitting his victim again with the back of his hand. His frustration was directed towards a defenceless patient who had Down's Syndrome and severe learning difficulties. Mr King, 32, who was naked at the time,...

A recent op-ed in Newsweek explored a mother’s emotional roller coaster after a friend told her that had she been in her position, she would have aborted her child. Liz Brown discussed the aftermath of hearing that some people think it’s better for her son — who is severely autistic and nonverbal — to have been killed rather than born. Brown was having coffee with a friend when they began to discuss IVF and pregnancy. “[S]he said she couldn’t bear the thought of raising a disabled child and that she would have an abortion if she found out her fetus...

A recent conversation between contestants on the reality show “Love Is Blind” has angered members of the Down syndrome community. On the show, contestants start by talking to each other through isolated pods, where they can have conversations without seeing each other face-to-face. Once a marriage proposal is accepted, they are finally able to see each other, and then spend time together in a couples retreat at a resort. Engaged couple Nancy Rodriguez and Bartise Bowden had previously bonded over their mutual love of children, but at 31, Rodriguez was worried that as she got older, she would be at...

A man in Egypt has filed a lawsuit against his own wife because their baby was born with Down syndrome. According to Middle East Monitor, Ghada Al-Absi told Al-Arabiya that she was “surprised” by the lawsuit which was filed in February. She explained, “He asked for financial compensation and the annulment of our marriage contract after I had given birth to our daughter, Sidra, who had Down[] syndrome and died soon after her birth.” In the lawsuit, which the court rejected, the man said he had been “psychologically and financially harmed by this marriage.” He claimed that his wife had...

Jérôme Jean Louis Marie Lejeune (1926 – 1994)Bioethics is one of the few academic disciplines and professions that does not have a patron saint. We at The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) think this may change soon. Jérôme Lejeune, a French medical doctor and world class geneticist, was recently declared venerable — the first step on the road to canonization, by the Church. He led a remarkable life that began with scientific break-through discoveries and continued with decades of faithful work defending the right to life of human embryos and preborn children.It is remarkable to me that the Vatican declaration...

ORLANDO, Fla. - The father of a special needs child with Down syndrome is speaking out, still fuming that his 7-year-old daughter came home from Ocean Breeze Elementary School with a mask tied around her head. "I was so angry so I waited four days from Thursday 7th to Tuesday after Columbus Day because I really need to calm down," said Jeff Steel. "When this child got off the bus and had the mask it was tied around the back of her head underneath her ponytail and it was quite tight around her face." He said it was so tight,...

Zoey-Lea O’Hehir and her husband Jake are speaking out about the cruel way they found out their daughter Arlee has Down syndrome. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, O’Hehir said she was in the middle of teaching when she received the phone call delivering the diagnosis. She was told that her daughter had Down syndrome and that the doctor had already scheduled an abortion. “It was very scary and just the mention of termination struck a nerve,” she said. “Before I could say anything, before I could process anything or even breathe [he’d scheduled the termination].” After trying...

(Right to Life UK) – A Chinese biotech firm has declared “screening out” babies with Down syndrome is a “cash cow” funding the growth of the whole business. The admission comes from a spokesperson for BGI Group – a Chinese genetics conglomerate whose main business is offering non-invasive prenatal tests, primarily used to diagnose Down syndrome. In a segment from an Aljazeera documentary titled Genesis 2.0, the spokesperson gestures towards a digital map of the world and says: “You can see clearly, especially for Down’s syndrome, we have nearly two million samples all over the world. This part is, what...

A Scottish mother, who has a six-year old son with Down’s syndrome, has slammed Amazon for selling t-shirts which read, ‘let’s make down syndrome extinct.’ She said: “To target a group who are disabled is just disgusting.” Stacey Corrigan, aged 34 from Paisley has a six year old son with Down’s syndrome named Daniel. Ms Corrigan slammed the t-shirt slogan as “hateful” and “disgusting”, asserting that it should be treated as a crime. She said: “I can’t believe they have been allowed to sell this. Who even thinks up an idea to design this? Daniel is just perfect to us...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal court in Cincinnati will hear complex legal arguments for and against Ohio's Down syndrome abortion ban Wednesday, in a case viewed as pivotal in the national debate over the procedure. Attorneys for the government contend in legal filings that the sidelined 2017 law does not infringe on a woman's constitutional rights — because it “does not prohibit any abortions at all.” That was certainly not how the measure's proponents in the Ohio Legislature saw it, said one backer. “I'm of the mind that it certainly does prevent abortions,” said state Rep. Candice Keller, a Republican...

The number of late term abortions carried out past 24 week’s gestation on UK children with Down’s syndrome have doubled in the past 10 years, recent figures have revealed. Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications said: “It is barbaric that a child who may have a disability in the UK can be aborted right up to birth. This practice has no place in a civilised society.” The recent figures, obtained in response to a parliamentary question by Lord Alton, have revealed that in 2018, the number of UK children aborted past 24 weeks gestation following a possible Down’s syndrome diagnosis...

The mother of a New Jersey student with Down syndrome who was forced to leave the senior prom early has filed suit against the school district, claiming her daughter was the victim of discrimination due to her disability. The suit was filed by Katherine Trusky in Somerset County Superior Court on Dec. 9 and argues that Hillsborough High School student, identified as L.D., was “humiliated, singled out, and forced to leave the Senior Prom early while other, “neurotypical,” students were allowed to continue.” The lawsuit goes on to say that the memorable night that L.D. and her friends were meant...

A Southern California couple who said they would have aborted the wife's fetus had doctors competently performed tests showing their daughter would be born with Down syndrome reached a settlement with two medical groups and three physicians, court papers obtained Friday show. Lawyers for the couple filed papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor Chavez on Thursday stating that the case was resolved just before trial was scheduled to begin. No terms were divulged. More Stories The couple filed the wrongful birth/wrongful life case in June 2015 against Axminster Medical Group Inc., Westchester Advanced Imaging Medical Group Inc. and...

On the one hand, there has never been a better time for people with Down syndrome to be alive; advances in science, education, and medicine means they are living longer, healthier, and more independent lives than ever before. Yet on the other hand, despite this fact, people continue to argue that it’s acceptable to deny someone with Down syndrome his or her right to life — simply because of a disability. Even many of the people whose lives are allegedly dedicated to advocating for those with disabilities seem to think preborn children with Down syndrome should be targets for abortion,...

CINCINNATI (AP/WSAZ)- Ohio's law banning abortions involving a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis is getting a new hearing. The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday to hear the case. A three-judge panel from the 6th Circuit in October upheld a lower court decision placing the 2017 law on hold, ruling it likely was unconstitutional. The Ohio Attorney General appealed and asked the entire court to reconsider the constitutionality of barring doctors from performing such abortions.