Does Down Syndrome Hurt Us?


Should we rid the world of Down syndrome? I’m John Stonestreet, and this is the Point.

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My oldest daughter Abigail survived a 31-hour labor, CPR, and 4 days in neonatal intensive care. She loves to hear the story about that day, and how thankful we were to take her home. Apparently, Amy Julia Becker’s kids are the same way. But writing for Motherlode recently, she told of how she finally added a detail to her daughter Penny’s story. She told Penny how scared she was about Penny’s Down Syndrome.

“I thought Down syndrome would hurt you, and I thought it would hurt me,” she said. The advances in testing for Down syndrome mean more and more women act on that fear before their child is born, and 90% of children who are diagnosed during pregnancy are aborted.

Down syndrome doesn’t scare Amy anymore. What does scare her is “the perception, often reinforced by doctors, that a life with Down syndrome is not a life worth living.” That sort of devaluing of human life should scare us all. Come to thePointRadio.org to read more about Penny. I’m John Stonestreet.


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Further Reading

Has Down Syndrome Hurt Us?
Lisa Belkin | The New York Times | October 03, 2011



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