Natural

Down syndrome is a naturally occurring phenomenon in the human population. This genetic condition can be found across cultures, genders, and socio-economic levels. It occurs in approximately 1 out of every 800 births, so it clearly represents a natural component of humanity. For people with Down syndrome, the genetic condition does not define them, but it is inherently a part of them much like race or sexual preference.

The Debate

The Down syndrome community has struggled to react to the ACOG recommendation that all women be offered pre-natal screening for Down syndrome. The reason this suggestion was problematic in the Down syndrome community was because many expectant parents receive outdated, negative information about Down syndrome. Therefore, members of the Down syndrome community sought to provide physicians with more updated information to convey that the life of a person with Down syndrome is worthwhile. This was particularly vital since there is a reported 90% abortion rate for babies with Down syndrome.

As a result, the reaction of the Down syndrome community was immediately seized upon as part of the abortion debate. Unquestionably, the majority of individuals in the Down syndrome community argue that they want to properly educate expectant parents about the improved quality of life for people with Down syndrome so that expectant parents can make an informed choice whether to continue the pregnancy or not. Yet, there is also an undercurrent in the Down syndrome community suggesting that eliminating a part of the population based on genetic screening is a discriminatory practice with eugenic undertones.

So, the question emerges: can people ethically disagree with the reason why a woman has an abortion without engaging in the abortion debate about whether or not abortion should be allowed at all?

To me, it is similar to arguing about whether what someone says is ethical or not while still fundamentally recognizing the right to free speech.

Perfection

I am going to make a bold claim. My son has Down syndrome, and I would not change it if I could. Would I mitigate some of the cognitive and physical effects? Certainly. Do I support research to improve his situation? Of course. But just as I would not change the melodrama exuded by my middle child, I would not change my oldest son's genetic composition that is an inherent part of his character.

Attitudes and Cowardice

I initiate this blog on a day of particularly unsettling news. On this day, scores of innocent people were killed, and the humanity was violently stripped of two women with Down syndrome who were strapped with remotely activated bombs to carry out the attack. This was a cowardly act of murder in its most base form. While I am certainly devastated by the deaths of all involved, I am also deeply troubled by the attitudes reflected about people with disabilities, particularly those with Down syndrome.

First, it appears to be fairly uncommon for unwilling participants to be used to carry out suicide attacks (thought the very connotation of an "unwilling" participate defies the definition of a "suicide" attack, doesn't it?) Typical unwilling participants, such as children, older people, and, until more recently, women, were not used to carry out these acts. So, why did the terrorists justify the use of women with Down syndrome to express their venom?

I contend that while the terrorists stripped their humanity in the most barbaric way, their humanity had been stripped long before. One quote from the London Daily Mail cites proof that the women had Down syndrome with the quote, "Bolstering that claim, local police said the woman in the first attack sold cream in the morning at the market and was known to locals as 'the crazy lady'." Long before this attack, this woman was labeled as 'the crazy lady,' the 'other,' someone so different that she had no name.

So, it was not a great leap for the terrorists to use these women to carry out their attack. It was probably no different to them than murdering a sheep or a goat, something less than human.

Among others, I stand and mourn for these two women and the lives they should have had.