{"id":236191,"date":"2020-12-14T09:40:38","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T15:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=236191"},"modified":"2020-12-13T22:35:56","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T04:35:56","slug":"eugenic-abortion-down-syndrome-denies-brother-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/eugenic-abortion-down-syndrome-denies-brother-worth\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tolerance’ of eugenic abortion denies my brother his worth"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(LifeSiteNews<\/a>) It was my sixth birthday, and I cried, chasing the ambulance taking my new baby brother and my mom off to a different hospital. He needed surgery for duodenal atresia, or blocked intestines, a condition present in about 2.5% of children with Down syndrome. The recovery took some time, but now Conrad has no trouble eating \u2014 something he loves to do!<\/p>\n

As he grew physically, he also grew to become the favorite of the family \u2014 everyone\u2019s favorite. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve noticed among other families, as also mentioned by Evita Duffy in her\u00a0November 30\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0The Federalist\u00a0\u2014 we all favor the sibling with Down syndrome, for a variety of sometimes overlapping reasons.<\/p>\n

But mostly? Mostly they are the favorites because they are the most tolerant, loving people in our society. This is a generalization, but it\u2019s generally true. And this\u00a0in contrast to a\u00a0recent article<\/a>\u00a0by Sarah Zhang at\u00a0The Atlantic, who wrote about the high abortion rates of children prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome in Denmark, and closed by arguing for tolerance toward the practice. In America, it\u2019s well known that those who preach tolerance don\u2019t practice it; they use it as a tool to control others. Zhang uses this argument to make the abortion of a certain group of people seem less horrific.<\/p>\n

In reference to a young man with Down syndrome and the conversation regarding aborting children like him, the final line of her article reads, \u201c[T]he stakes of our conversation were very real and very human.\u201d That sentence evokes pity, as if to say that as long as you feel bad for making the decision, and feel for the people it affects, as long as you think you\u2019ve tried to understand both sides of the issue, it\u2019s OK to engage in eugenics. Nothing could be farther from the truth. And it hurts all of us.<\/p>\n

Beyond the unborn victims of abortion, engaging in eugenics has a particularly harmful effect on women, who often bear the brunt of the decision and are essentially in an experiment yet undone on the long-term mental, emotional, and spiritual effects of this action. It creates an empathy gap, not only between the wealthy who can pay for testing and those who can\u2019t, but also between the scientists who are pushing the boundaries and the actual lives of the people affected.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0INSPIRING: First person with Down syndrome completes Ironman triathlon<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Zhang explains in detail the history of prenatal testing and recent advances in the field. But science is consistently behind in this area. It was behind in the days when children with many diagnoses were institutionalized, and it is behind now. While \u201cadvances\u201d in prenatal testing are being used as an excuse to eliminate difficulty or uncertainty, individuals with Down syndrome are proving that the limitations placed on them by the medical profession and society as a whole are far from legitimate. And while we shouldn\u2019t judge the value of someone\u2019s life based on his accomplishments, that’s where many individuals with Down syndrome are in this fight \u2014 defending their lives and the lives of those like them, pointing to society\u2019s upside-down value system and asking us to change. They\u2019re teaching us. Take\u00a0Chris Nikic<\/a>, the young man who completed the Iron Man this year and inspires others to be 1% better every day. Or\u00a0Grace Strobel<\/a>, model, speaker, and activist. Or\u00a0Troy Drake<\/a>, an entrepreneur. Or the many individuals with Down syndrome who have\u00a0testified before Congress<\/a>, before communities, and in their school lunchrooms that their lives are worth living.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve changed communities. In my home town of Carmel, Indiana\u00a0is a thriving community of people of differing abilities and their families who support each other. It\u2019s an incredible group. People who grew up together, play sports together, go trick-or-treating, and live life together. Families bond as the entire community (of \u201cabled\u201d and \u201cdisabled\u201d alike) come together, sharing the love of being human and accepting one another with all our differences.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one part of the tragedy of eugenics in places like Denmark, Germany, and Iceland. While fear of the unknown, fear of the future, and mourning the loss of the life you thought you\u2019d have are certainly valid and appropriate, let\u2019s not miss the many benefits of welcoming a child with Down syndrome into the family. Those who choose to abort miss humanity in search of perfection or certainty, neither of which exists in this world. The parents who abort babies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome miss out\u00a0not only on the humanity and the community, but also on themselves, on their own personal growth. They miss out on the process of becoming more selfless, caring more for others, and growing in maturity and strength. Because surely, embracing people for who they are, regardless of their perceived imperfections, is the highest form of empowerment and love.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time we all learned that in the field of medicine, and in life, just because something can be done doesn\u2019t mean it should. It\u2019s time to step up and accept hard or unexpected things and the amazing beauty and blessing they bring. It\u2019s time to love and live and give this Christmas season. And also to accept each other truly, not just in the name of tolerance. I\u2019ll be doing all of this with my favorite brother, Conrad.<\/p>\n

LifeSiteNews Editor\u2019s Note: Gretta Weindorf, the author of this article, is a certified family nurse practitioner and older sister to Conrad, who has Down\u00a0syndrome.<\/em><\/p>\n

LAN Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at LifeSiteNews<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n
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(LifeSiteNews) It was my sixth birthday, and I cried, chasing the ambulance taking my new baby brother and my mom off to a different hospital. He needed surgery for duodenal atresia, or blocked intestines, a condition present in about 2.5% of children with Down syndrome. The recovery took some time, but now Conrad has no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":783,"featured_media":236192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,9455,4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Tolerance\u2019 of eugenic abortion denies my brother his worth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beyond the preborn victims, engaging in eugenic abortion has a harmful effect on women, who bear the brunt of the decision and its long-term effects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/eugenic-abortion-down-syndrome-denies-brother-worth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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