People with Down Syndrome have a joy that is hard to describe. Ever positive and cheerful, their love of life is contagious. They are God’s Prozac. But, with upwards of 90 percent of them being aborted following a prenatal diagnosis, it is easy to understand the abortion industry targets them because of their disability.
A bill in the Ohio legislature would give these children added protection. It would ban abortions if unborn child’s life is terminated because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome. The Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act (H.B. 135) passed out of the Committee on Community and Family Advancement this summer. Sponsors of the bill are hopeful it will be voted on the full floor of the Ohio House following summer recess.
This bill is well timed. The release of the undercover Planned Parenthood videos has put the focus of abortion on the child rather than a choice. Abortion proponents strip these children of their humanity to maximize profits.
Killing Children Isn’t Doing Them a Favor
Unborn children with Down Syndrome are also robbed of their humanity. I learned this first hand when I received a call informing me my unborn child likely had Down Syndrome.
I was sent to a high-risk obstetrician seemingly immediately. The first thing I said to this doctor was that I would never abort my child, and I didn’t want her to even suggest this. She either found this to be a challenge she wanted to win or she just didn’t care about what I said.
The doctor had nothing positive to say about my child. In strong-armed fashion, she told me if I really loved my child I would have an abortion, because it was a caring decision that put the child first. She actually said, “You would be doing your baby a favor to have an abortion.”
I can’t imagine anyone with an ounce of a conscience believing that ripping a child to bits would be considered a favor. But she was trying to strip my child of humanity without concern for her ethical integrity.
I was also hammered with incorrect facts about children with Down Syndrome. The one that sticks out in my mind years later is that most children with Down Syndrome don’t live to see their first birthday. This is a complete lie, as the life expectancy for people with Down Syndrome is 60 years.
Women Shouldn’t Be Bullied Into Medical Decisions
I was informed that I really didn’t have time to waste, since I was in my second trimester. The obstetrician said I should get an abortion as soon as possible before more people realized I was pregnant. I agreed to only one thing at that appointment. I had the blood test repeated so I could prepare by interviewing pediatricians who could properly care for my child.
I left the hospital not feeling sad or mourning the “perfect” life this doctor said my child could never have. I left the hospital filled with anger. I was angry that this doctor had no regard for my wishes to respect life. I was angry that I was bullied with incorrect facts in an attempt to get me to end my child’s life.
Mostly, I was angry that this doctor had stripped my child of any humanity in an attempt to get a notch in her forceps.
My mind kept returning to women in this position who are less educated than I am and how this doctor would have easily influenced them. I could imagine them being swayed by the doctor’s scare tactics and immediately making an appointment at an abortion clinic. That so many of these children are aborted is evidence that my case is certainly not an exception, but is the norm.
My second triple-check test showed that my child didn’t have Down Syndrome, but rather that my due date was incorrect. When I returned to the specialist for a follow-up visit, I noticed she used the word “baby” repeatedly. During the prior visit, my child had been a mere fetus to her because she didn’t see the humanity of the child on the ultrasound screen.
Targeting a Group for Death Is Evil
That experience is something I will never shake. I had never realized how much discrimination these unborn children face until I was the one sitting on the exam table. That’s why this bill needs to become law.
The abortion lobby is obviously protesting this legislation. They use the same old arguments portraying women as victims as they wave their coat hangers. But this bill presents a different challenge to their defense, as it deals with the discrimination intended to eliminate a group of people with a specific disability.
If this bill was a law at the time of my pregnancy, my doctor would have been committing a felony, and she would have faced the revocation of her license for discriminating against my child and pressuring me to have an abortion because of an incorrect blood test
Bill cosponsor and Rep. Sarah LaTourette insists it is about not about abortion, but about ending discrimination.
“As with any bill that they perceive as a threat to their industry, pro-abortion groups have been vocal in their opposition to HB 135. However, they are presenting the same arguments they use for every pro-life bill,” she said. “While I make no effort to conceal my pro-life convictions, I firmly believe this bill is about discrimination, not abortion. Choosing to end an individual’s life simply because they are different, or might have Down Syndrome, is discrimination. There is simply no other way to look at it.”
Children with Down Syndrome receive immediate protection from discrimination after their birth under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The Ohio bill would afford them that same protection while in the womb as well. Anyone on the Left who clings to protecting those with disabilities will only expose his or her own hypocrisy by opposing this legislation. Otherwise, he or she is embracing protection on one side of the womb and eugenics on the other.
