In keeping with my prior thoughts about how to approach the abortion issue, I wrote a piece on the specific practice of aborting fetuses that have a high probability of having Down’s Syndrome. I showed it to my wife, and she had a couple of problems with it.

1. It really says nothing new. Paula liked the piece, but thinks everyone knows that aborting fetus’ with a high probability of having Down’s Syndrome is discriminatory.
2. Paula also suggests that if I am going to offer to look after children born with Down’s Syndrome, we need to be involved in fostering or community groups that are already dealing with people with Down’s Syndrome or other conditions. Otherwise no one will take us seriously.

I have had disagreements with my wife often enough to realise that I can be very wrong and she can be very right, even though I don’t see it at the time. So, I’ve opened this up hoping to get other opinions.

• Do you agree that the following article merely states the obvious and adds little to the argument?
• And do you agree that we need to be involved in caring for children or work with people who have Down’s Syndrome or other conditions in order to be able to offer taking a baby with Down’s Syndrome in?

Please leave a comment.

Stop Discrimination Against People with Down’s Syndrome.

When Paula and I discovered she was pregnant, we returned to the fertility specialist for a check up. During the consultation, the doctor suggested we get a nuchal fold test done to determine the possibility that we would have a baby with Down’s syndrome. If there was a high chance of Down syndrome then an amniocentesis would be carried out. Yes, there would be a risk to the fetus, but because Paula was over 35 years old the likelihood of Down’s syndrome was much greater, and the test would give a pretty good indication of whether our baby would be Down’s syndrome or not.

“So, do we need to have this test done?” I asked.

No, he said, but implied that it was a good thing to do.

“And does this test determine anything else besides whether we might have a baby with Down’s syndrome?”

No, he said.

“And if the test indicates we will have a baby with Down’s syndrome, then what?”

Well, we could then choose whether to abort it or not.

Now, receiving the news that there is a high likelihood that you will have a child with Down’s syndrome is not good news. The condition is actually a genetic abnormality that will affect your life and the life of your child forever. Faced with that prospect there might be a number of reasons why people choose to terminate a pregnancy. There may be financial considerations – surely bringing up a child with Down’s syndrome incurs extra expense; there might be emotional considerations - it would cause greater stress. Certainly there is a greater level of care required for a longer period of time.

But perhaps people are altruistically concerned that the quality of life for their child would be less than what they desire for their children should they bring a child with Down’s syndrome into the world. It is true that people don’t always treat people with Down’s syndrome with as much respect as others.  (To be frank, I myself am always a little nervous about relating to people who have Down’s syndrome. I haven’t had a lot of contact with such people so I’m not sure how to act and I don’t know how they are going to act toward me. Usually there are rules for interacting with others and people by and large follow them. People with Down’s syndrome do not always follow those rules. They are different, and that worries me).

And while we are looking for reasons, I think we need to also consider the possibility that many people don’t want to bring a baby with Down’s syndrome into the world because they are concerned that their own quality of life would be reduced.

Whatever the reasons, however, once you have decided to terminate a pregnancy because of the likelihood that your baby would have Down’s syndrome, you are saying to every Down’s syndrome person you have met or will meet from then on, “If you were in my womb, I would have an abortion.”

That, my friends, is discrimination. You are really saying that people who have Down’s syndrome are less valuable than those who don’t; that they are not worth your extra money, your extra energy, your extra time; that, to you, it is not worth bringing a child with Down’s syndrome into the world.

“But we really can’t afford it,” you say. “In all honestly I know I wouldn’t cope emotionally.”

Then give that child to us. My wife and I are not rich, but we will value that child in a way that you say you are not able to, as will others. No recriminations, no hatred or blame. If you decide you are not able, that’s fine.  Just don’t allow discrimination prevent a human child from being born.

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