Recently, Iceland has declared that they have eliminated Down syndrome in their country. In order to achieve this goal, any pregnancy that tests show to have this syndrome are automatically aborted. Reasoning is given that this children would not have a good quality of life and should therefore be killed prior to birth.
In October, Frank Stephens, a man with Down syndrome, addressed the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee. During his presentation, Stephens told how he has a good and active life and is very much worth living. He then went on to address the trend in some areas of curing disease by killing the patient. I highly recommend listening to his entire presentation, Stephens makes good points on a serious topic and still gets a few laughs.
As I have gone to schools, colleges, and just out in public, I find that a lot of people just aren't familiar with disabilities. Most just haven't had any exposure and therefore are unaware, but others don't care either. When a government entity comes along and says this population struggles with life and abortion is the "kind" option, they blindly follow along. Somehow that sounds very similar to Germany in the 1940's.
By this same reasoning, I could easily see the practice expanded to other types of disabilities, such as those of us living the quad life. We often can't breathe on our own, require assistance for absolutely everything, and some live in care facilities or just stay home most of the time. It sounds harsh, but I don't think it's long before countries like Ireland make this line of argument as well.
No matter what a person's abilities, we must remember that ALL life is precious in God's eyes and we are the pinnacle of His creation. Life is so sacred that He sent His son to die for our sins and was raised to life again so that we may have eternal life with Him. As we start the last week before Christmas, remember this is the reason we celebrate and to cherish every life He has put on this earth.
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