The value of human life is not determined by ability. When I was just out of high school, I had the opportunity to work with an autistic six year old child. There were so many things this child was unable to do, but my God, this little boy (and his older brother, who was not autistic) made such a deep and lasting impression on my life! So much so that I am now seeking a career working with disabled children.
I am also the older sister of a legally blind young man. My brother cannot drive, and will probably always require some assistance from others in his activities of daily living. But my brother is also an intelligent, accomplished man who, at the moment, is in the process of building his own computer. "Disabled" is not a word that comes to mind when I think of him. My brother is also a good man- passionate and thoughtful. The idea that this poor excuse for an ethicist would declare my brother's life not worth living is repulsive to me.
The faulty assumption that this "ethicist" operates under is the assumption that life was intended to be easy, and that we are all intended to have the same abilities. This is manifestly untrue, and the implications of such an assumption are, quite frankly, barbaric and inhuman.
We can all think of people like Stephen Hawkings, Stevie Wonder (he's blind, right?), and Helen Keller, and others who have made incredible contributions in music and science and education and every field imaginable, all with "handicaps".
But what about the people who are "not perfect" (like any of us are!) who simply bring joy. The babies with Down Syndrome who grow up may never find the cure of cancer, but they can bring love and joy to their families and friends, they can learn and be self-sufficient much of the time though it is harder for them and harder for their families. There is a boy about 11 who has down syndrome who is my toddler's day care. He goes to a special school, and when he comes to the house each day he has more patience with my 18 month old to play silly baby games than the 4 and 5 year olds who don't like the baby stealing their toys or knocking down their block castle.
I worked with emotionally disturbed children as a volunteer when I was in high school. I cried about the injustice of it all, that these beautiful kids would never live a "normal" life, that they would always need help doing even the simplist things. But one thing they needed no help with: they all loved. They could hug and hold hands and sit on my lap and sing simple songs, and even if they couldn't sing they loved music.
Would they be better off dead? Who are we to judge? I thank God that I have three healthy children, but if my fourth were to be "imperfect", should I bitch and moan and complain, or accept my child and love him or her as much as my "normal" kids?
Anyway, I just had to comment. In addition, many of the so-called "birth defects" are curable, or will be curable in time.