{"id":7588,"date":"2011-10-30T18:23:18","date_gmt":"2011-10-30T22:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/liveaction.org\/blog\/?p=7588"},"modified":"2013-04-01T18:12:40","modified_gmt":"2013-04-01T22:12:40","slug":"words-that-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"Words that kill"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\u201cThe baby is incompatible with life. Here is the number if you choose to terminate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Until this Summer, I had never heard of Trisomy 18.\u00a0 Also known as Edwards Syndrome, Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra 18th chromosome in a person\u2019s cells.\u00a0 This can cause heart malformations, kidney problems, breathing difficulties and a number of other problems.\u00a0 The idea of a genetic disorder was abstract, until Tad, my unborn baby cousin, was diagnosed with T18.<\/p>\n

After learning that Tad had T18, doctors quickly changed their tone when talking about him.\u00a0 Despite the fact that some children do survive with the condition, they told his parents that the condition is \u201clethal\u201d and that the baby is \u201cnot compatible with life\u201d.\u00a0 Sometimes subtly, and sometimes bluntly, they urged abortion.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for Tad (and his extended family), his parents are not only opposed to abortion, but active in the pro-life movement in their community.\u00a0 But, hearing my aunt and uncle tell about the doctors brought me to an important question: Aren\u2019t we all <\/em>\u201cincompatible with life\u201d?<\/p>\n

Death is faced by every human being — even those with the ideal lives envisioned in the \u201cevery child a wanted child\u201d mantra of Planned Parenthood and pro-abort groups.\u00a0 The fact that Tad will one day meet his Creator proves that he is just as alive and human as his born contemporaries.\u00a0 Knowing that this sad day may come sooner, however, is no reason to end his life now.<\/p>\n

Quality of Life vs. Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

In discussing Trisomy 13, another type of Trisomy, a 2003 report<\/a> by the Hastings Center stated,<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough many of the congenital syndromes that used to be lethal no longer are, they are still routinely referred to as \u201clethal anomalies.\u201d But the label is not only inaccurate, it is also dangerous: by portraying as a medical determination what is in fact a judgment about the child\u2019s quality of life, it wrests from the parents a decision that only the parents can make.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aside from the final statement (that implies one should be able to decide the fate of another), this point is very true — and the same logic applies to Trisomy 18.\u00a0 As anyone involved in the pro-life movement knows, our society repeatedly fails to make the distinction between quality<\/em> of life, and life itself.<\/p>\n

In the past few decades, science has progressed drastically.\u00a0 We can know the gender, size, health, and even face of our baby before they make their birthday debut.\u00a0 With 4-D ultrasounds, we don\u2019t have to wait nine months to see if Baby has “Daddy’s nose.”.\u00a0 Yet, with all of these advancements, there is one thing science has yet to create: There is no “quality-of-life meter.”\u00a0 Nor will there ever be.<\/p>\n

We all have that friend who takes pride in their refined taste for something.\u00a0 Perhaps a friend believes his opinions on movies are unsurpassed, or another claims she can distinguish a perfect brew of coffee.\u00a0 Humanity is very gifted at comparing the values of various objects, but we must not carry over that pride into the judgment of life.\u00a0 We don’t get to be life connoisseurs, claiming to know what life is worth trying — and what life is not.\u00a0 Children with disabilities will know life differently than you and I, but their lives are not worth less than our own.<\/p>\n

Lethal Language<\/strong><\/p>\n

The failure to distinguish between quality of life, and life itself, moves from frustrating to dangerous when doctors advising mothers miss the distinction as well.\u00a0 Life is lethal, not my cousin.\u00a0 Pressuring a mother to end the life of her own child, however, is<\/em> lethal and absolutely unacceptable.<\/p>\n

I have been unable to find statistics specific to the Trisomy 18 abortion rate, but a more common form of Trisomy, Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), has an abortion rate of about 90%<\/a> upon diagnosis.\u00a0 I would assume the Trisomy 18 rate is higher, as the condition is more life-threatening.<\/p>\n

As pro-life individuals, we need to be aware of these dangerous labels for two reasons. \u00a0 First, as with any abortion, we need to have compassion for women and families who have fallen victim to this harmful rhetoric and opted for abortion.\u00a0 Even friends who identify as pro-life could have a hard time knowing where they stand when given such a manipulated diagnosis.\u00a0 In the midst of the trauma and emotion of an unexpected diagnosis, one could easily be swept away by the suggestions of \u201cprofessionals\u201d.\u00a0 Second, we need to be prepared when friends are faced with similar circumstances, and ready to help clarify the distinction between quality of life and life itself.<\/p>\n

My family is not disillusioned into thinking Tad will live a struggle-free life, but for now we are thankful for him as he is. Let us inform our society about the value of every human life, and help put aside this dangerous, lethal language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe baby is incompatible with life. Here is the number if you choose to terminate.\u201d Until this Summer, I had never heard of Trisomy 18.\u00a0 Also known as Edwards Syndrome, Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra 18th chromosome in a person\u2019s cells.\u00a0 This can cause heart malformations, kidney […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":28955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWords that kill - Live Action News<\/title>\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\/words-that-kill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Words that kill - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe baby is incompatible with life. Here is the number if you choose to terminate.\u201d Until this Summer, I had never heard of Trisomy 18.\u00a0 Also known as Edwards Syndrome, Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra 18th chromosome in a person\u2019s cells.\u00a0 This can cause heart malformations, kidney […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-30T22:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-04-01T22:12:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/pile-of-words.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucy LeFever\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucy LeFever\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lucy LeFever\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0bfc0ac239da8b4f82a92d8b477380e7\"},\"headline\":\"Words that kill\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-30T22:23:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-01T22:12:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/\"},\"wordCount\":813,\"commentCount\":17,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/words-that-kill\/\",\"name\":\"Words that kill - 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