Posted on 03/09/2006 5:38:33 PM PST by NYer
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, MARCH 9, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Many prospective parents are waiting for years to adopt children with Down syndrome, according to a recent article in the Associated Press.
So why is there an extended wait for kids with special needs, who are usually more difficult to place with families? The reason might be: the growing acceptance of aborting babies with Down syndrome.
Elizabeth Schiltz, law professor at the University of St. Thomas and contributor to "The Cost of 'Choice': Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion" (Encounter Books), shared with ZENIT how aborting children with Down syndrome has not only become justified, but is almost considered a duty.
Schiltz also relayed her experience in receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome for her son.
Q: Why do you think it has become socially acceptable to abort a child with Down syndrome?
Schiltz: Because, unfortunately, it has become socially acceptable to abort any baby who disappoints the expectations of the baby's parents for any reason, as the increasingly common practice of sex-selection abortion indicates.
Down syndrome just happens to be a disability that is easily identified through prenatal testing.
Not only have many come to accept that a woman faced with such news is justified in aborting her child, some now go further and insist that she has a duty to abort.
Bob Edwards, the scientist who created Great Britain's first in vitro fertilization baby, gave a speech a couple of years ago at an international fertility conference in which he said, "Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child that carries the heavy burden of genetic disease. We are entering a world where we have to consider the quality of our children."
This is frightening. It signals an erosion of societal consensus about our collective responsibility for vulnerable people.
Society will increasingly believe that a mother who forgoes an easy abortion and chooses instead to give birth to a disabled child should not look to the community for help. After all, it was her "choice."
Q: Has prenatal testing contributed to the problem?
Schiltz: Prenatal testing has made the population of children with Down syndrome more vulnerable to abortion, because it's so easy to identify them. But the real problem isn't the testing.
The real problem is using the results of these tests as part of a crude "cost-benefit" analysis -- of balancing the "benefit" of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome against the "cost" to the mother and the broader society.
Obviously, such a cost-benefit analysis ignores the fundamental truth that every human is created in the image and likeness of God.
And, even on its own utilitarian terms, this analysis is often faulty because it rarely involves adequate information about the realities of living with Down syndrome -- either for the baby or the baby's family.
Brian Skotko, a Harvard Medical School student, published a pair of studies in the medical journals Pediatrics and the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology just last year, concluding that few mothers were satisfied with the manner in which their doctors delivered pre- or post-natal diagnoses of Down syndrome, or the information provided by their doctors when they gave these diagnoses.
I applaud efforts like the bill introduced in Congress last year by Senators Brownback and Kennedy, called the Prenatally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act, that would require healthcare providers to provide up-to-date, scientific information about prenatally diagnosed conditions and referrals to support services.
I'd like them to amend the bill to add information about the waiting lists for adoption of kids with Down syndrome.
Q: The Associated Press recently reported that many families are choosing to adopt children with Down syndrome and sometimes have to wait years. What are your thoughts on this phenomenon?
Schiltz: I am thrilled that this has finally caught the attention of the mainstream press. The newsletters and Internet listservs of Down syndrome support groups have been talking about this for years.
In fact, I know a woman who runs an adoption agency, Huminska's Anioly, that specializes in placing children from Polish orphanages in homes in the United States.
When she heard about the waiting lists at American adoption agencies for children with Down syndrome a couple of years ago, she started a special program for children in Polish orphanages with Down syndrome.
In the States, there's another resource: the Adoption Awareness Program -- Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.
Q: What was your experience in receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome for your child?
Schiltz: I think my experience of receiving the prenatal diagnosis for my son was somewhat atypical, because my doctors knew that abortion was not an option for me. Even so, three things about the process were really striking.
First, there is a phenomenal amount of pressure to make decisions quickly, because the whole system is geared to result in earlier and therefore "safer" abortions. The pressure to act quickly in these situations not only increases risk to the baby, but I think it must often prevent parents from thinking through realistic alternatives to abortion.
Second, I was struck by how little positive information about life with Down syndrome the doctors and genetic counselors were able to provide me. Although my doctor was very supportive of my decision, neither she nor our genetic counselor had any helpful information to share about life with Down syndrome.
Third, even though I was pro-life, and even though I spent my whole life loving my mentally retarded older brother, getting the actual diagnosis was extremely traumatic.
For days afterward, I hesitated to put my hands on my belly. I felt as though a stranger had moved in, and he frightened me. For weeks afterward, I felt as though I had lost my entire identity.
I had never perceived of myself as a person with a child with a disability. I had always perceived of myself as a person with "perfect" children. I didn't know how I could continue with the life I had always planned for myself.
But, gradually, I started to love that little "stranger" just as strongly as I loved the old vision of what he would be. And, gradually, I realized that my old self was still there, it just had some new things to learn.
Personally, I'm glad that I was able to go through that trauma before my child was born. But it's important to be sensitive to how devastating this kind of news can be to any parent.
Q: How are people with Down syndrome an important and special part of our society?
Schiltz: In her book, "The Child Who Never Grew," Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author Pearl S. Buck wrote this about her mentally retarded daughter: "[B]y this most sorrowful way I was compelled to tread, I learned respect for reverence for every human mind.
"It was my child who taught me to understand so clearly that all people are equal in their humanity and that all have the same human rights. None is to be considered less, as a human being, than any other, and each must be given his place and his safety in the world.
"I might never have learned this in any other way. I might have gone on in the arrogance of my own intolerance for those less able than myself. My child taught me humanity."
In addition to teaching me about humanity, I also think that my son has taught me something about divinity. I think my love for him sometimes provides a hint of what God's love for us must be like.
Like my love for my son, God's love for us doesn't depend on our intellect, our accomplishments or our proximity to what society defines as "success."
People with Down syndrome wear their vulnerability on their faces. They are a visible reminder that the image of God reflected in humanity includes people of all sorts of intellectual capacities.
It would be an impoverished society indeed that succeeded in eliminating such powerful teachers of both humanity and divinity.
Thank you. My students and I are all the better for it. Tim is one of my best friends too.
I just wish we all took a little time to smell the roses sometimes and treat each other a little better rather than having to be constantly at each other's throats (not literally).
Another part to the story. Tim (the guy who helps in my classroom) had a niece who died who was multiply handicapped. She had fought the odds for a long time, but her kidneys failed her in the end. He had a special connection with her because he knew there was something "wrong" with both of them. At the funeral, he was beside himself. He couldn't look at her body for a long time. I had never seen him like that and wondered why. It turns out he was having feelings of "I'm next" because of him having something "wrong" with him like she did. Talk about tugging at your heartstrings.
Agreed. My time working with people with such disabilities left me with a deep sense of that; we take so much for granted. The bravery and persistence of the people I met was an inspiration to me. To this day, I'll think of them and what they overcame everyday to get joy out of life.
"They believed, and still believe, that doctor was trying to maneuver them into a situation that, if there WERE abnormalities, he could push for an abortion. And we all think he was doing that to avoid a future lawsuit if my granddaughter was going to be a different kind of child."
Words fail.
In hish school I would volunteer with the Special Olympics. It was a joy beyond anything and a great learning experience. AND some of those guys were pretty fast. I was a pretty fair sprinter, but I saw some that would have bested me in any distance.
Those of us with so much take so much for granted. I always think of the saying, "No matter how hard we think we have things, there's always someone who has it worse."
"Nothing to be honest, I just don't feel like arguing to point. I don't support abortion in the case of rape, but last time I said that, the people who disagreed with me made me upset, and feel bad."
Yup. I made the mistake about a year ago of posting a news article about how certain pro-life individuals in the Democratic party were working to end abortion.
While I personally disagreed with some of the tactics being advocated by the individuals in question, I thought (and still do think) that it was a strategy that has some promise.
Well, after about 150 pings and several FRmails accusing me of all sorts of wickedness, I had learned my lesson. And I learned it well.
So I just don't discuss abortion on FR threads other than to note that abortion is evil. That keeps the ad hominem attacks to a minimum.
I take it you've never lost a child, or felt the heartache the loss of a child can bring to a life. I would give anything to have that child back, even if he was 'profoundly retarded,' he would be a blessing to my husband and I.
My mom was 36 when I was born -- parents were living in Portugal (Lajes AFB). 1972 -- it was suggested that she abort due to age. She could have gone to London. The docs counseled her strongly about the risk of Down Syndrome.
She didn't -- told my dad -- last chance for a girl (after 3 boys, one of whom had died a couple of years earlier of cancer).
She got me. And for all intensive purposes, I'm a normal, hpapy healthy woman. 33 now, and I have twin girls who are almost 11.
"So I just don't discuss abortion on FR threads other than to note that abortion is evil. That keeps the ad hominem attacks to a minimum."
The first time I asserted on FR that SSAD is caused by homosexual seduction or molestation in the pre-adult years, a lot of people went wild on me. Now, though, there seem to be a lot of people who agree, or at least find it plausible.
Sometimes it just takes a few years of work to establish a position's legitimacy.
That is a wonderful story, God Bless you and your folks. I have 4 girls and a son. He's the youngest. Poor guy doesn't get to say much but he's spoiled rotten.
Sorry to hear about your brother, that must have been extremely tough on your parents to lose a child. I couldn't imagine having to go through that.
Best wishes to you and your family.
To me that is what life is all about, loving our children given to us by God, no matter how they are delivered to us. Choosing life, even when it is a heroic sacrifice.
I've seen some people with severely handicapped kids, (as we all have) I believe their reward will be great when they stand before God.
This rant isn't necessarily directed at you either.
This entire notion of having a Down's Syndrome child as an exercise in noble sacrifice is bullshit.
What chaps my hide is having to hear others who "knew someone once" or "worked with them after school" drone on about what a "gift" and "blessing" a handicapped child is.
Does he deserve to live? Of course. Would my parents go through it again? No they would not and have said so.
I most certainly wouldn't go through it again, but then I had no choice the first time around.
If I knew someone to be pregnant with a Down's Syndrome child I would counsel abortion or institutionalization.
There is no cure. They never get better, ever.
They'll never play on the football team or be a cheerleader.
They'll never drive a car.
They won't graduate high school and have a plan for their lives.
They won't go to college. They won't get married and buy a house.
They won't have children.
So what happens after public schooling ends? Do you keep them home? How about making them work outside the home? Or do you send them off to a group home to possibly be victimized by unscrupulous caregivers or other residents?
They will be susceptible to all kinds of bacterial and viral illnesses. This gets worse as they enter middle and old age.
Some will have weak vision and hearing along with poor hand-eye coordination and balance making them susceptible to accidental injury.
Since their life spans are much longer now, they will grow old, perhaps to their mid sixties, and watch their parents grow old and die, who by the way will be caring for them until the day they are no longer physically able to do so.
Many times the parents will be caring for their elderly parents and the retarded child, leaving their own needs in last place.
Always last. Remember you've got a perpetual 3 year old to care for.
Then if they haven't already done so, any siblings will get to take over full time care.
Thirty, forty years down the line you're worrying about who's going to watch the kid.
How about the other children in the family? Is it fair to put this burden on them?
Having children tied down to the house, unable to leave because they have to care for their brother or sister while mom and dad work.
Ostracism of siblings by other children because there's a scary retarded person in that house.
Exposing very young children to behavior most people will never see outside of a mental institution.
Having to maintain a rigid routine or face raging turmoil. There will be no spontaneity with the family's activities.
Want to spend the day with the family at a museum and then go to a new restaurant? Forget it.
Want to fly to Hawaii and spend a week on the beach? How about Europe? Nope, not going to happen.
How about going to a sibling's dance recital or ball game? Better have a babysitter lined up. If you can find one who is qualified to watch handicapped children.
These may sound like trivialities until you remember this is permanent. It's not a passing phase where you curtail your wants while the child matures to the point they can participate.
/end rant
Yep. It's not a movie of the week on the Lifetime Channel.
Good posts Shrinker.
:)
Same-sex attraction disorder. The mental disorder that is today commonly misrepresented as an "orientation" or as a choice to be "gay."
You're describing liberal Baby Boomers, right?
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