The ease with which so many discard a life yet to be born simply because of an extra chromosome is nothing less than terrifying. Through what magical looking glass are people gazing that shows them which life is worth living, and which is not.
Down syndrome isn’t the only diagnosis on the eugenics via medicine hit list. Pre-natal testing is on the horizon for autism too.
The push for earlier and earlier prenatal testing is becoming increasingly concerning. Especially when staring into the disturbing opinions coming from people like Nicholas Provenzo,
“Like many,” notes Libertarian commentator Nicholas Provenzo, “I am troubled by the implications of Sarah Palin’s decision to knowingly give birth to a child disabled with Down syndrome. Given that Palin’s decision is being celebrated in some quarters, it is crucial to reaffirm the morality of aborting a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome.”
This is necessary, Provenzo informs us, “because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive.”
Following Mr. Provenzo’s own rhetoric, I would be interested in knowing what he plans to do when he becomes elderly. For we all decline in productivity as time progresses. Will an elderly Mr. Provenzo be willing to take a long walk off a short cliff to keep world productivity levels high?
Or maybe it could be arranged for someone to push him off. The sooner the better. I’m sure there would be a line of Mom’s of kids with special needs willing to volunteer.
I’m just sayin’.
This is why I blog about our life with Parker. To try and repair the damage done by the likes of those whose opinions are found in Down syndrome a modern day death sentence, written by Joseph A. Cannon.
Where Mr. Provenzo, and Princeton Professor Peter Singer are musing the abstract while sitting in their ivory towers, my family and I are living life with a child with special needs. We are in the trenches leading the fray in spreading the word that a life with Down syndrome is truly worth living.
I’m hope that our story will speak to the hearts of mothers carrying a newly diagnosed life and give them the hope and the courage to stare the eugenicists in the eye and refuse them the life of their child.
Wow. That is just incredibly sad that there are people out there that feel that way. I just don’t understand how they can see things that way. We just seem to want to eliminate EVERY challenge that might come our way- why do we not see that we are eliminating our JOYS…
Well, he’s a jerk. ‘Morality of aborting a fetus’ needs to be affirmed because of PRODUCTIVITY? Duuude….
Geroge Will has a son with Down Syndrome, born in 1972. His name is Jon. He agrees with you about the “search and destroy” missions being horrific. He’s written about it. I remember one of his columns saying if there were more peopel like Jon, the world would be a much sweeter place.
Twitter: therextras
Feb 24, 09
Tammy, I believe your blog makes a difference – with attitudes reaching the women who matter.
I also take encouragement from Jeanette at:
http://www.downrightfaith.com/weblog/?p=719
Her work with her local DS society is truly saving lives, one by one.
So all the people I know who have the desired number of chromosomes but are really not productive members of society, should we just put a bullet in their heads and get them out of here? Seriously. What is productive? Who gets to decide that? What do we do with those who fall below the cut?
This guy is a moron of epic proportion. We need to euthanize him because he is polluting our gene pool with his defective thinking. I have no time for people this stupid. Instead, I would rather be hugging kids with Down’s and feeling the LOVE.
I’ve been thinking about this all day. I mean, honestly. Them’s fightin’ words.
(I think the George Will column was linked from here, actually…I don’t read him regularly, and yours is the only blog that talks about extra chromosomes on a regular basis…am I right? Or was it somewhere else?)
*Gasp* how does one even respond to that, OMG what a wow…
It is obvious that this idiot has never actually spent time in the company of someone with Downs Syndrome. If he had, he would never EVER believe that ending a life simply because of a diagnosis is the best option.
He needs to spend time in company of a Downs Syndrome child. It is the perfect picture of true and honest love. There is not a bad heart among them.
I’m sorry that as a mother you have to hear of someone saying your child would be better off if you had killed him before birth. That hurts deeply.
I always get sad when I see people saying stuff like that. Who made them supreme rulers of the universe that gets to decide who lives and dies? I think there are a ton of people out there that are “normal” that are living completely empty and meaningless lives. Do we destroy them too?
I would never wish the things on anyone that I have gone through with my son but I also would not change any of it for anything. I would be a much weaker person with out having gone through these challenges.
You pretty much summed it all up for me!
Your choice of words was excellent!
All I can think is… ‘what a slippery slope’ this may become…
What is their measurement of productivity in an individual? In addition to their ‘Scientific & Educated’ Opinions (which smack of Archiac Mentality) did they bother to mention their yardstick of productivity.? What is their ‘unit’ of measure? And what is the cut-off point? At which point does the world say ‘sorry, you’re just not productive enough’…?
To a logical person, I think it is completely ridiculous! But then again, I don’t have a ‘great scientific’ mind… I’m just a mom to a boy who amazes me every day. I’m just madly in love with my son (all 47 chromosomes of him)!
I can not believe in this day and age, that someone would still think that about the differently abled people in society.
If more people looked at the world the way a child with disabilities does , we wouldnt have comments like this from people who ASSume things. In Anthony’s short 4 years of life, my life has changed, my view point has changed on a lot of things, my house isnt as clean, but my memory is FULL, and everyday he makes me laugh!
Tiffintexas
I feel sorry for people that think that way. And I feel proud of people like you and Reed.
It truly amazes me how people could actually defend aborting any child. The abortion rate for children with Ds is so heart breaking. I understand why women might be driven to that decision, but I also think those who do make that decision appreciate that they are doing something wrong. I imagine many are heart broken, many are guilty because they are painfully aware that it is their own weakness and fear that is denying their child a life. People applauding these choices as the right thing to do is just disgusting. What sad lives they must have.
Wow. What a closed-minded so & so.
I’ll be honest here – I have no children at this point, and will not have children for awhile (if at all), and when I first started reading blogs about children with Ds or any kind of delay or “difference” (for lack of a better word) I thought to myself “I don’t know how they do it! I don’t know how they fight that fight and walk that walk” but after reading yours and others sites I think that anyone with a child with Ds is LUCKY to have that amazingly wonderful child in their life! Sure troubles and problems and sickness may arise, but it’s worth it because that extra somethin’ special is what makes this world more beautiful and magnificent! A world full of “normal” people is boring! Who wants to be a cookie cutter person?
MAJOR props to you for being an AMAZING Mom to Mr. Parker (The most adorable little boy I’ve ever seen!). Your job isn’t easy but the rewards are great and you are showing people every day that “different†is worth fighting for.
I sincerely hope that things change soon! All of this negativity towards people who are “different” is really getting me down! Isn’t this country based on people being “different†and “unique†and “specialâ€Â? I always thought so!
“Lord, Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”….is what comes to my mind. It is people like this who I really think are missing some link in some other chromosome. Just like those with Ds usually take longer to learn…the same may be true for this type chromosomal abnormality. I will take a loved one with the extra 21st anyday over whatever missing or extra chromosome they have. Maybe new DNA studies need to be done…could maybe have quite a few new diagnoses in people who believe in a way so cruely.
I’m sorry but comments by people like him just make me sick. I’m not a mother of a special needs child. However, I refused the testing for both of my kids knowing that I would accept whatever child God gave me. It’s not an easy decision and it’s fraught with fear. But it is not my choice to make, whether a child lives or dies.
Where does it end? Do we “euthanize” kids that develop diseases or disabilities when they get older? And as you said, what about the elderly? The minute we lose compassion for ANY life, we lose our humanity. Plain and simple.
Your blog touches more people that you could possibly know Tammy! You’re doing what God called you to do!!
My son doesn’t have DS, but he was pretty much diagnosed with a syndrome before birth. I was given the information that I could terminate the pregnancy multiple times. I am happy that the doctors I went to respected that I could also happily choose to let him live. I know that others have had other experiences.
Life with a child with special needs is wonderful. Busy, but fabulous. I love both my children so much. We have tons of fun every day. We have challenges too.
Oh Tammy, that just makes me sick. Where’s the line? You know I’ll be there waiting! That just makes me want to say lots of bad words that I’d better not say!!!
I just wonder about how someone like Provenzo or Singer live their lives on a daily basis. What have they learned that makes them think life is only valuable at what a person can produce? And which things matter? If production of love matters, I know Parker, like Shawen, is highly productive. If joy in living matters, then I know Parker, like Shawen is highly productive. If bringing joy to others matters, I know Parker, like Shawen, is highly productive. I’d rate Shawen’s entertainment productivity much higher than Ben Stiller’s.
Shawen is a big producer of the important things in life. So, he might not invent the light bulb, but neither did Provenzo or Singer. Where is their value? What are they producing other than elitism and hatred?
I just don’t get it. I really don’t get why anyone with a heart and soul and brain that thinks on its own would waste their time reading what they produce.
ridiculous is all I can say on here! I don’t comment much but parkers story has touched me so deeply I will always carry a piece of his continueing journey in my heart! thanks to his amazing mother who shares his story!
Unbelievable! Keep writing, mama. More people need to know Parker…
Right on!! Amen!
You know what breaks my heart? 12 children STARVING to death every minute of the day on Planet Earth! How about we take better care of the humans already born… cause frankly we are doing a terrible job.
The Bible commends us to be good stewards of the Earth and we have responded by overpopulating and poisoning the air, water, and food we eat. Shame on us.
Tammy,
What an encouraging blog you have. You are in the trenches but you are making something spectacular while your there. Thanks, for opening up you heart and reaching out to other moms. I read this post and I could sense your motherly strength and positive attitude. You are an inspiration to me.
Sincerely,
Beth
Excellent post, Tammy. All children deserve to live, not just the ones that are deemed productive.
I am so sorry people have to be so mean and stupid! It is amazing those type people can even read. They are not worth even thinking twice about. Just not worth it. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Kelley
Tammy, thank you for writing this. As a mom to a boy with severe autism, I have been really alarmed about the push for pre-natal autism testing. There are a number of issues around autism causality that haven’t been answered yet (and that make pre-natal screening a very dubious diagnostic tool), but the bottom line is that our society is only as good as the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Children with Down Syndrome, autism, and other special needs are our great treasure. They deserve the best life they can have, and they deserved to be cherished for who they are.
Parker is gorgeous.
I adore you. This is a brave post…and so true.
xoxo