Eliminating Down Syndrome Children Is Not Something to Be Proud Of

From The Daily Signal.com (Aug. 16):

This week, the CBS News program “On Assignment” included a long feature on what it described as the near eradication of Down syndrome in Iceland.

As the story unfolded, viewers learned of the impact of genetic screening and abortion on a countrywide scale.

On that tiny island, known to people mostly for its geothermal pools and Northern Lights, what one scientist called “heavy-handed genetic counseling” has led to the death in utero of nearly every boy and girl affected by Down syndrome.

The CBS News report focused on a single nation, but the trend toward elimination of children with Down syndrome is tragically widespread.

New genetic screening tools available earlier in pregnancy have exacerbated this situation, leading to the lethal rejection of the majority, perhaps the vast majority, of these children worldwide.

In France, an estimated 96 percent of children with Down syndrome are killed before birth. In the United States, estimates range between 61 percent and 93 percent.

There is no haven for these children, no safe place that tells them they are no more imperfect, no less beautiful, than you or I am.

Just 27 years ago, a future U.S. surgeon general, testifying before Congress, looked forward to the day when Down syndrome could be eliminated in America.

She did not mean by ameliorating the disease itself. She meant by searching for and destroying children who have the condition, which she said would have “an important, and positive, public-health effect.”  [read more]

Eugenics anyone? I wonder if they aborting these children because the Down syndrome children are happier than the people in Iceland. Actually, the truth is because the children are imperfect. That’s why. What’s next? Children with muscular dystrophy or mental disorders?