{"id":250504,"date":"2021-08-04T06:40:55","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T11:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=250504"},"modified":"2021-08-03T14:48:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T19:48:27","slug":"targets-abortion-deserve-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/targets-abortion-deserve-seen\/","title":{"rendered":"Those who are targets of abortion deserve to be seen"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>) Nineteen-year-old Ellie Goldstein from Britain has been shaking up 21st century standards of worth and beauty by simply being herself. She is proving to the world she is capable and thriving. She shouldn\u2019t have to prove anything at all. This bright eyed gorgeous young woman has quite literally demolished societal and media standards for beauty norms. She spent years pursuing her dreams to become \u201can overnight success.”<\/p>\n

But what makes her so different from traditional standards of female beauty? After her photo<\/a> posted on Instagram for the Gucci mascara L’Obscur campaign went viral a year ago, she began garnering a lot of attention, and rightly so. The fact that Ellie has Down syndrome (DS) but has gained such attention as a model serves as an incredible example of inclusion and representation for everyone else who has big dreams and also happens to have DS. Every time she models, she helps others feel seen in this big world. As amazing as Ellie\u2019s accomplishments are, this is not just about her.<\/p>\n

The fact is doctors often tell mothers to abort their babies when they are diagnosed with DS. These children are spoken about as if they are not a worthwhile human life. Their mothers are told their quality of life will be terrible. The claim is it is actually more kind to just kill them, whether at the time of diagnosis, up to birth, or even right after birth.<\/p>\n

What does this really look like from a mother\u2019s perspective, pregnant and just finding out her baby may have DS?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at Heidi Carter\u2019s story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A beautiful woman, newly married and incredibly happy, she wants to tell the world that she is happy and healthy and living a full, wonderful life. Heidi and her husband both have DS. Heidi is advocating for rights for babies with possible DS diagnosis, advocating for all non-fatal diagnosis\u2019 to be subject to the 24-week abortion cut off in the UK, as opposed to all the way up until even right after they are born.<\/p>\n

Doctors told Heidi\u2019s mother to kill her nine times. Can you imagine being a mother and having so much pressure from doctors who are in charge of your and your baby\u2019s medical care, pressuring you to kill your child because your child has no future? Put yourself in the mother\u2019s shoes, in love with her baby\u2019s heartbeat, already in love with the little person that he\\she is, and yet you’re guilt tripped into thinking that making the decision to have your child and raising your precious baby is actually cruel and selfish of you.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0I was pressured to abort after a decimal point error led to a Down syndrome misdiagnosis<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Parents are simply not being told the truth. Parents of DS babies are led to believe that their children will have no quality of life, that they are simply a \u201cmalformed fetus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is Sara Hart Weir, president of the National Down Syndrome Society, in a 2018 Healthline.com<\/em> article<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Women \u2014 even in the United States of America \u2014 are not receiving accurate, up-to-date information about Down Syndrome from their healthcare providers \u2014 a vital issue we have advocated for, for many, many decades,\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Weir said people with Down syndrome need to be accepted as part of society.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018In the U.S., people with Down syndrome continue to exceed expectations,\u2019 she said. \u2018Individuals with Down syndrome live independently, go to college, work in competitive jobs, get married, live to their full potential, and lead fulfilling lives.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Will we hear more from DS advocates or families living with the condition? Can we count on medical professionals to have adequate concern for these precious lives such that they don\u2019t push families to abort upon receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis?<\/p>\n