I always try to stay out of heated political or religious debates online. I’m not ashamed to say I’m pro-life, but to all the pro-choicers, humor me a second because that’s not where I’m going with this post.
Last night I
was reading about the new abortion law in North Dakota. It’s said to be the strictest abortion law ever passed. One of the provisions would ban abortions because of genetic defects such as Down syndrome. I always like to read the comment section just
to get an idea what people are thinking. Of course there were the standard comments about life beginning at conception and a woman’s right to choose. That was no surprise. What I was shocked to read was how much these people DIDN’T know about Down
syndrome! You couldn’t imagine the ignorance that was running rampant in those comments. One of the comments referred to babies born with Down syndrome as having “a grotesque path ahead.” Another person argued that it was unfair not to terminate
babies with such “gross genetic defects” because they would lead “miserable” lives. That person also argued that parents might not have the money for medical help or might not be in an area with an institution for the child to
be put in. What??? Where did they find these people?? I’ll tell you where. Everywhere….all over the country….even in Texas! One was from Houston to be exact. I know because I was taking notes on those comments. LOL. I was so fired up and ready to post a strongly worded comment addressing specific inaccuracies when I noticed the comments were closed. Its tax season and I’m a little behind on my internet reading. I’m not giving up though. Please
help me share this point of view.
My point is, all of these people are vehemently defending or opposing this law and supporting their arguments with statements about Down syndrome that couldn’t be more wrong. In my opinion people are outraged
by the wrong thing. It doesn’t matter, in this instance, whether you approve or disapprove of abortion in general. I hope everyone will fight just as vehemently to inform people about Down syndrome. This law might not even be relevant if people really
understood what they were fighting for or against.
I challenge all pro-choice supporters to look at it this way. Even if you believe it’s a woman’s right to choose, it’s tragic to think she’s choosing abortion because she thinks
her baby will have a “grotesque path ahead”, will lead a “miserable” life or that she’ll have to put her baby in an institution. That’s terrible, and it’s not even true!
I challenge all pro-life supporters to
think of it this way. Abortion is such a heated topic. It has all kinds of aspects that delve deep into people’s religious and moral beliefs. I’m not saying it’s not worth the fight, because it is. I’m just saying it’s really
difficult to change someone’s view on abortion once they’ve picked a side. Not a whole lot of progress has been made in the last 40 years. Maybe it’s time to regroup and refocus the effort. According to the Center for Disease Control 6,000
babies are born with Down syndrome in the U.S. each year. Voila! There’s your new angle! If the goal is to save lives it would be foolish not to focus on educating people about Down syndrome. I’ve done the math. If 90% (or more) of all Down syndrome
pregnancies are terminated and 6,000 babies with Down syndrome are born in the U.S. each year; that means at least 54,000 babies with Down syndrome are aborted each year. I’d be willing to bet most of those decisions were based on inaccurate or outdated
information. That’s a lot of babies that could’ve been saved without first having to change the fiber of someone’s being.
I’m posting this picture of Landree to help set the record straight. It’s fact. There’s no
arguing with this picture. Does this baby look like she’s “miserable” or headed down a “grotesque path”? NO! People with Down syndrome are some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen. Even the kids we’ve met with serious
health problems were smiling and happy. Landree hasn’t even had any health problems related to Down syndrome. People with Down syndrome don’t live in institutions anymore. Landree goes to regular daycare and will hopefully attend public school.
She also has ECI therapists that come to her daycare and to our home. They work with her every week and teach us strategies to encourage her development. The cost is based on income. Help is available even in a small town like ours. THIS is the truth.
What can you do? Please repost this, along with Landree’s picture on facebook, twitter, email or wherever you can. Show people how happy she is. Tell people about her blog. Just by clicking "like" you're helping get the truth out there. Speak up the
next time you hear a debate about abortion. You don’t have to know all the statistics. Just tell people about the healthy, happy baby with Down syndrome that you read about. It benefits everyone if we’re all on the same team for this one!
Please help me spread this message!