By Pastor Bruce Oyen
E-mail: bk_oyen@hotmail.com
I live in Centralia, WA. Our local paper, The Chronicle, recently had an interesting story on the Opinion page. It was by Julie McDonald, who opposes abortion. It had to do with the fact that parents of a Down syndrome child were awarded $2.9 million dollars because "prenatal testing failed to diagnose the chromosomal abnormality." McDonald also reported the parents insisted "they would have aborted the baby had they known." Their daughter is now 4 years old.
Some things came to mind when I read this story. First, it made me wonder what persons with Down syndrome will think if they read it in the news. Many Down syndrome persons can read. I had a good friend with Down syndrome. We went to lunch together and attended church together. He played the accordion. He could read and write. He had a good sense of humor. But I don't think he would get a laugh out of the idea that some parents do abort, or would abort, a child because he or she has Down syndrome.
Second, the story uses terminology that should wake us up to the reality of what abortion is. The story refers to a baby, and it refers to a girl. So, then, abortion is the termination of the life of a baby boy or girl. That boy or girl might be abnormal, but human life deserves respect no matter how physically or mentally abnormal someone is. That is why many of say we are pro-life. And many pro-lifers draw inspiration for their view from the Bible's Psalm 139.
What follows is from an email sent to me by Julie McDonald, who wrote the newspaper article referred to above. It is printed here with her permission.
Julie wrote: It’s a travesty and shows the slippery slope we’re heading down. Now more medical technicians may err on the side of diagnosing abnormalities for fear they will be sued for a "wrongful birth."
What follows is from an email sent to me by Julie McDonald, who wrote the newspaper article referred to above. It is printed here with her permission.
Julie wrote: It’s a travesty and shows the slippery slope we’re heading down. Now more medical technicians may err on the side of diagnosing abnormalities for fear they will be sued for a "wrongful birth."
I don’t know how a birth can ever be deemed wrongful. I am staunchly prolife, and I found this news piece abhorrent. That’s one reason I wanted people to read it, since they might not read it elsewhere.
Earlier, I included a piece showing that two medical ethicists in the United Kingdom now say it’s okay to kill a baby after birth, especially if it has any abnormalities! Good gracious. They didn’t call it what it is—infanticide—but rather "post-abortion births."
I know many wonderful people with Down syndrome and this world is a much better place because of them. That’s why my stomach turned when I read this story about a “wrongful birth” lawsuit. Where in the world are we heading as a society when something like this can occur?
I know we need to pray about all of this, but we also need to make people aware of what’s happening so that they will wake up to reality. This kind of stuff just makes me heartsick. And I’ll keep including these things in the column so people become more aware of the direction our society is moving.
We all need to stand up stronger to say "This is wrong," despite the criticism we may receive.
Right on, Julie! Right on!
While some parents want to abort children with Down syndrome, many others do not. Here is a link to personal stories about parents who love their children with Down syndrome:
http://www.ndss.org/My-Great-Story/My-Great-Story-of-the-Week/.
Right on, Julie! Right on!
While some parents want to abort children with Down syndrome, many others do not. Here is a link to personal stories about parents who love their children with Down syndrome:
http://www.ndss.org/My-Great-Story/My-Great-Story-of-the-Week/.
