Reading through news articles this morning and I came across one that breaks my heart into a million pieces. A blog found on Momlogic talks about how down syndrome is disappearing. Not because with all the modern technology we've found a cure but because when a mother finds herself faced with a lifetime of mothering a child with down syndrome "as many as 92 percent decide to abort." In this article the woman they speak of aborted her baby boy some time after 18 weeks. I don't get it. Are we so consumed with taking the easy way out in life and being conveinent that we've lost all faith and hope in something that is greater than ourselves. She aborted her baby because of an inconvience. Yes, down syndrome babies have more health issues. They have heart defects a lot of the time. There are many other things that could happen. Those things in no way give any mother the right to snuff out breath of a baby because they are scared of the unknown.
My sister is 27 years old. We grew up sharing a room a lot of the time. We played barbies in the closet, dressed up in funny outfits, and laughed at all the Disney movies. In no way was my sister, who is affect by down syndrome, not a huge part of my life and the compassion that I have for others. I have been faced with the doctors warning me and telling me to test for ds with all my children because I have a sister with it. I always smiled and declined. Whether any of my children had down syndrome or not, the choice would never had changed. My love and concern for that child would have even grown simply because of me knowing how much a child with such a handicap would bring to my family.
As a society we think that we can take our life into our own hands. We think that our decisions are just about us. We do whatever feels right or seems right at the time without thinking of the effects of anyone else. I'm not condemning this women in the blog for aborting her baby. I am sure that her and her husband did not come to that decision lightly as she states in the blog. I do think that the lack of faith and hope that people have is a bigger problem than anyone with any kind of birth defect. Without Christ, you have nothing. I would not want to make any decision in my life without the peace of the Holy Spirit alive in my soul. To go through the devastations that life can bring in a matter of seconds, can only be handled with the grace and mercy of Christ. To love without reserve, is something that only God gives.
The numbers have long been dwindling. Between 1989 and 2005, there was a 15 percent drop in births of babies with Down syndrome. Researchers estimate that there should have been a 34 percent increase during that time because women are having babies later in life, which increases the likelihood of having a child with the disorder. Some wonder if Down syndrome, which is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States and affects 400,000 Americans, will vanish entirely.
They use the word "vanish" as if it makes it feel better that thousands of women are aborting their "abnormal" babies. That's okay. Go ahead and let them. It won't change. Simply because I am heartbroken and write this blog, nothing will change. Somewhere there will be a women today abort her baby simply because he/she has down syndrome. The only way I can get through the rest of my day with this thought is believing and knowing that these babies wake up in the arms of someone who is greater than down syndrome. That baby boy who was killed for not being normal, woke up in a place that will be all he'll ever know. He's a "Glory baby" now.
Psalm 46:10 (New International Version)
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
2 comments:
A friend of mine knows a couple who chose to abort their first baby because the test for down syndrome came back positive. With the second pregnancy, the test came back positive again, but the couple decided to have the baby anyway. As it turns out, their baby is perfectly healthy and NOT affected by down syndrome.
I'm with you - when the doctor asked me if I wanted to have the test, and when the nurse strongly urged me to have it done, I politely refused. There is nothing that they could have told me that would make me want to abort my baby - the beautiful miracle of life that God has placed inside me. Who are we to decide who lives and who dies and who is perfect and who is "flawed"? Obviously science isn't perfect, as shown in the example of the couple I mentioned above.
I have had the joy of meeting only a couple of people with down syndrome, and I didn't know them well, but this is what I can say about them - they are literally the sweetest, most loving people I have ever known. I have never met anyone with a kinder, bigger heart than they have. Why would anyone want to deprive the world of the joy that these people can bring to us.
Kristin, this is so beautifully written!
I got all kinds of "urging" from my doctors the high risk specialist during our ultrasound with Rachael to have all these tests done. Even doctors just don't get that it DOESN'T matter what the result of that test would have been, it would not have changed anything (except maybe helping me grow in compassion and love for that child). We choose to love because it's what God has called us to. Who are we to decide that a child would be better off not being brought into this world. I serve a sovereign God and that is absolutely His decision.
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