Posted on 11/03/2025 10:44:42 AM PST by Morgana
“Pure Joy!” commented one of my Facebook friends on the reel I posted of my 23-year-old daughter riding the Carousel. If you consider it uncommon for a 23-year-old to inspire such a comment, you must understand something: my daughter has Down syndrome.
Few people live life with such whole-hearted gusto, expressing their joy without reservation as those who have an extra copy of Chromosome 21. They lack the fear of the disapproval of others, of not being ‘cool,’ and thus are free to express their joy without reservations. It’s a beautiful thing, but it’s becoming rarer.
That is why it was so devastating to read on X yesterday that the abortion rate for preborn babies with Down syndrome in Ireland is 95 percent. It was not always that way.
Before abortion was legalized with a national referendum, it was a common sight to see people with Down syndrome everywhere in Ireland. Ten years ago, a visiting American doctor once commented upon the prevalence of such people in Ireland, and was told by her host, “abortion is illegal in Ireland, so babies who have Down syndrome are not aborted.”
Tragically, as soon as the referendum on abortion passed, and the law allowed prenatal testing and abortion for genetic anomalies, women in Ireland rejected their unborn babies with Down syndrome at the same rate as the rest of Europe. Some nations, like Iceland, are making a concerted effort to eliminate those have Down syndrome, making the abortion rate closer to 100 percent.
This is not progress. This is not women’s health.
This is wholesale genocide of a category of human beings because of their genetic makeup. It is denying the dignity of people who do not measure up to our standards of perfection, by making sure they never see the light of day.
When we judge others by their beauty, income, or how much they inconvenience us, we had better be careful where we draw the line. One day, we ourselves may experience diminished capacity and be included in the category that Nazi Germany called “Life unworthy of Life.”
Canada has recently reached a wretched milestone: 90,000 Canadians have chosen MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying). Most were not terminally ill, they were merely people who either felt that life was too burdensome, or who the medical profession has convinced are a burden on the system.
Many had disabilities and were denied basic services, like medical care or housing. They were offered medically assisted death instead of a home or an expensive medical treatment.
As our population ages, more of us will enter that category of disabled. My own father, at 93 is in cognitive decline, confusing his days and nights. In New York, where he lives, the Legislature has passed the physician assisted suicide bill, and it sits on the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul.
Why don’t we as the wealthiest societies in the history of the world, stop evaluating others by what they require of us, and endeavor to notice what they bring to our lives, supporting them without measuring their value, in a utilitarian scale?
Why are we so stingy with our love and support of the neediest members of society?
In his 1923 directorial debut, Charlie Chaplin’s movie “A Woman of Paris” depicts the life of Marie St Clair, an innocent country woman who is attempting to elope to Paris with Jean, a poor artist. A misunderstanding occurs, and Marie believes she was jilted. She becomes the mistress of a Paris playboy. Years later, Jean pursues her, but she at first rejects him and he commits suicide.
I fully expected Marie to immerse herself in the frenzied decadence of 1920’s Paris, as many American writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway did. Instead, she brings Jean’s elderly mother to share a simple country home where they care for a number of orphans.
When the parish priest asks her when she’s going to start a family of her own, she merely smiles, because she has already discovered the source of true joy: caring for others.
Is it too late to hope for our culture to rediscover this long-forgotten secret?
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"Tragically, as soon as the referendum on abortion passed, and the law allowed prenatal testing and abortion for genetic anomalies, women in Ireland rejected their unborn babies with Down syndrome at the same rate as the rest of Europe."
This is what I wanted you all to take notice of.
Seems the world hates Down Syndrome babies. No sooner did Ireland get abortion on demand they went after the Down Syndrome babies first.
I really detest this.
Reason #568 why we MUST NUKE UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL GOV’T “HEATHCARE” AKA DEATH PROTOCOL!!!!!!
We have known many Downs kids and others with severe cognitive issues. My wife served as a board member for the largest facility that assists adults and their families with these types of issues. That said, knowing the actual difficulties trying to take care of such a child for their entire lives is daunting. No one who has not been through this type of challenge has a clue as to how much of a burden this type of situation creates.
So, although these numbers are horrific, they are certainly no surprise if you look at the current generations that are now in their childbearing years. This is especially the case because most people in our society put off having kids until they are in their 30s and beyond. Both my wife and her sister were born when their mother was in their 40s and that was in the late 1950s. But the trend has gotten much more prevalent at least for most demographics.
The chance of having a Downs kid when the mother is in her 40s are much greater when the mother is younger. A woman aged 25 has a chance of 1 in 2500 of conceiving a downs baby. When she is 40 it is 1 in 100, by the time she is 45 the chances increase to 1 in 30.
https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/cy/downsyndrome.html
My wife and I have known many women who at around age 40 decided they wanted to have a baby. Even the most pi0us of those would likely to choose to have an abortion rather than facing a future of spending their elderly years trying to take care of a young adult with Down’s Syndrome.
I have grown child with a learning disability to the extent that he will never be able to live on his own. The core issue is that pre-born DS children are already human beings. When is it right to deliberately kill a helpless human being that you have conceived because they will be inconvenient to you?
Majority of the irish population.
I have no argument with what you have said. But the vast majority of people when told that their recently conceived progeny has down syndrome will choose to abort and try again. That is just a fact with especially with older people currently hoping to have children in our society. You are free to condemn this if you choose especially since you and many others chose to keep them even before they were born.
We have a friend we met at the City Market grocery store where she works. She has Downs. She was put on cart duty at first. Then she became a checker. Now she manages the advertising sign placement throughout the store. She has moved ahead of some “normal” people who have worked there for many years, including one lady who proudly told me she has been a checker for 26 years.
This wording jumped out on account of
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
(21 - 501 - 21)
I'll take "never" for $200, Alex.
The No Abortion Left Behind crowd always tries to advance by arguing cases on the margin, i.e., rape, incest, birth defects. Life is difficult, often unfair, and full of tough decisions; and they realize that they can manipulate the emotions of many by such tactics.
In reality, the argument is really quite simple, and it boils down to a single question; is an unborn baby a distinct human life or not?
I do not disagree that that is what frequently happens. It does not make it right morally.
You are free to condemn this if you choose especially since you and many others chose to keep them even before they were born.
I condemn no one because no one knows better than I how hard it is to do the right thing. I only note the reality that must be acknowledged behind it.
I looked up a source: "Few people live life with such whole-hearted gusto, expressing their joy without reservation as those who have an extra copy of Chromosome 21. They lack the fear of the disapproval of others, of not being ‘cool,’ and thus are free to express their joy without reservations. It's a beautiful thing, but it's becoming rarer."
That last bit adds a bit, yup. And sad, if true. Trisomy 21 has lots of web mentions. Surely part of God's plan, rather than a "bug" as the killers of fetuses want to think. But for the evil, any cause to kill is a rejection of "I am." And therefore a rejection of "I am that I am." Best wishes.
“It’s a beautiful thing, but it’s becoming rarer”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so “rarer” is also a function of perspective.
I do understand how many prospective parents become fearful and are overwhelmed from all that gets thrown at them about what they could face.
And there are indeed many unknowns about each individual child, and difficulties and hardships are real.
I’m not endorsing their decisions, just that I can see why they happen, why they are encouraged by expert “wiser heads”. It’s a bad news buffet few can walk past.
“Preach the GOOD News!” ~ Jesus of Nazareth
That’s not any denial of realities on the ground, but the message that it’s so much easier to face and thereby overcome the challenges in this world when there is a ready supply of encouragement, support, and love.
Oddball was so much more than a “fictional” movie character.
The doubled 21 DNA immediately made me think of the name of God as “I AM WHO I AM”/”I will be who I will be”, in which is also a replicated 21.
These children also made me also think of the classic storylines where the king goes around his kingdom disguised as a poor man, beggar, or some other person typically held in low regard.
Then as these narratives go, the only one who recognizes him is a lowly maid/servant, demonstrating that she’s the worthy bride for him.
That’s the surface story, but how is it (her recognition of him) obvious?
A: She’s the only one in the kingdom who treats him like a king, no matter what he looks like.
Matthew 25
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
***
As with the analogy involving he KPSI, I also have another visual concerning a pair of 21s. It’s the area calcs I’d made some months ago for the Philosopher’s stone squared circle, the main circle A = 358 (Messiah).
The whole number roundings are close to the actual values involving pi, but as far as I can tell no one’s looked at it that way (rounded values with their inherent, traditional associations).
Why not... it’s not rocket science.
Be blessed.
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