By Judie Brown
The news I bring to your attention today is not, to my mind, just another of those heart-wrenching accounts of the ways in which Down syndrome children are annihilated before birth. For some reason, it struck a chord in my heart that cried out for release.
Today's column is a response to several news reports on Down syndrome and related subjects. I guess it all started with the statistical report that 90 percent of mothers who learn from prenatal testing that their baby has Down syndrome will opt for the premature death of their child by abortion.
I found the ABC News reporter's nearly jubilant attitude toward a new test for detecting Down syndrome very troubling, although she also reported, "Advocacy groups warn that the test which gives women the option to end a pregnancy sooner - could diminish an already small population of about 400,000 who have Down syndrome. About 90 percent of women who learn they are carrying a child with Down syndrome choose termination, and easier testing could increase those numbers, stymieing support and fundraising for those Americans."
Do those who push so hard for prenatal testing want us to get to the point where there are zero children actually born with Down, so that we can spend that money some other way? Will working to find a cure become passé?
Another reason I was deeply disturbed by this report is that it simply had never occurred to me that so many babies were being murdered for eugenic reasons and that the population had grown so callous toward these special blessings God sends to us.
The test, SEQureDX, was developed by Sequenom, described as "a leading provider of genetic-analysis and molecular diagnostic solutions." SEQureDX technology "extracts Fetal Nucleic Acid material safely and comfortably from a simple blood specimen collected from the mother to determine the genetic status of the fetus."
I was prompted to visit the company's web site to learn more about its mission in the world of genetic engineering, and I learned that it is very upfront about why it does what it does:
Sequenom is committed to providing the best genomic and genetic analysis solutions for the research and molecular diagnostic markets.If you concentrate on this, it is really easy to see that what we face in the future is the ability to detect imperfection in ways yet unheard of, to make it easier to rid the population of those human beings who are deemed not quite fit enough to survive. Such is the way of the genetically manipulated future. And it is really not a pretty one when you get down to the underlying causes for such a demonic attitude.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not judging the scientists at Sequenom; if there were no market for this type of testing, the company would not be pursuing it. That is a given.
At any rate, today's column deals with the fate of those preborn children who are diagnosed with Down syndrome later in their prenatal life and thus are terminated by extremely disturbing procedures. As the reporter, Penny Starr, told her readers, the disturbing procedure is a "D&E abortion that requires a woman's cervix to be dilated and the unborn child to be removed piece by piece."
Penny's article highlighted Anthony Levatino, M.D., whose story is worthy of some study. Dr. Levatino once was an abortionist: "I know I've done hundreds of the procedures. That's direct, hands-on involvement, with the forceps in your hand, reaching into somebody's uterus and tearing out a baby."
He tells an interviewer,
Life was good until June 23, 1984. On that date, I was on call, but I was at home at the time. We had some friends over, and our children were playing in the back of the yard.Eventually, Dr. Levatino realized that the only hope he would ever have of experiencing the peace and comfort only God can give was to stop killing other people's children. And he did.
At 7:25 that evening, we heard the screech of brakes out in front of the house. We ran outside and Heather [his daughter] was lying in the road. We did everything we could, and she died.
When you lose a child, your child, life is very different. Everything changes. All of a sudden, the idea of a person's life becomes very real. It is not an embryology course anymore. It's not just a couple of hundred dollars. It's the real thing. It's your child you buried.
The old discomforts came back in spades. I couldn't even think about a D & C abortion anymore. No way. I tried to carry on business as usual, and I did just the office abortions for the next few months.
Sadly, Dr. Levatino is in the minority. And while the cruelty of what he was doing finally brought him out of it, part of the reason it did was that the abortion procedure he used required cutting those babies up. Not so in the future, however.
It's a little scary to realize that this new genetic testing technology will make it much easier to target preborn babies who are, in essence, treated no differently than factory rejects. Such babies will probably literally be tossed on society's trash heap in numbers than greater than ever before. This is so because the doctor who aborts the child will not have to slice and dice the baby. It is therefore conceivable that more of them will be soothed into believing that the baby really isn't a child after all, and even if he is, the child would suffer terribly if allowed to be born.
That's how the thought process works once a medical practitioner has decided that abortion is simply another way to make a buck.
If only those who are so enthralled by more efficient ways to detect disease and rid the population of the diseased individuals would take the time to listen to someone who is close to a person with Down syndrome, such as Qadoshyah Fish, who wrote,
My brother with Down syndrome does grow at the same rate as his twin sister (who does not have DS). He does learn the same things she does. He is involved in everything the family does and he is not put off to the side to be able to do things that only he can do. If we would have listened to the negative information we received when my brother was diagnosed with DS, we may not have tried as hard to do certain things with him. He may have not learned to walk until over 2 years of age, but instead God blessed him and us and he learned to walk at 17 months (which isn't too different than children without DS). You cannot listen to false and negative "expectations", because there are many times when these are not true. There are some things which he is slower in and there are some things which he exceeds in more than she. But, what does that matter? There are children who do not have Down syndrome who are slower in learning and who don't grow at the same rate as other children their age. My brother does require more work, care, patience, love and diligence, but I praise God for him and am so thankful to have a brother with Down syndrome.Listen, America! Listen and learn.
I have a almost 3 year old son with Down Syndrome. He is an absolute delight. He is the youngest of my 4 sons. He is a little slower to reach his milestones, but he reaches them! He is just as amazing as his brothers are, and I see no difference. You really do have to close your ears to what others are saying about Down Syndrome. My little guy has NONE of the health problems that they say children with Down Syndrome have. He is adorable, funny, sweet, and ALIVE. A blessing as all children are. When I look at him, and cuddle him, I am so saddened to think that so many parents would be so quick to kill him. Why?, I ask. What is wrong with you, precious boy? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I am an investor in Sequenom and I don't think this article is fair and objective. You neglect to point out that the test will avoid the dangerous & expensive amniocentesis procedure which extracts fluid from the sac. Amnio has two serious flaws, inadvertent miscarriage and false positives. The point is many unborn are lost just in testing, 1~2% miscarriage with amnio and the false positives often result in either abortions of non-downs fetus or unnecessary worry on the part of parents. The goal of the Sequenom test is to provide a safer and more accurate test. The decision of what to do with the information is up to the parents. Early results also allow the parents to prepare for a downs child. In the future early test results may support in-womb treatments and possible cures including heart procedures which could improve the survival of a downs child.
Please consider the fact that current procedures (invasive) give a false positive reading of about 15% of all women tested. That means this newer, non-invasive test will actually help to reduce the number of abortions, therefore actually saving lives. Indeed, there might come a time, let's hope soon, when doctors will be able to rectify a genetic disorder before birth takes place Let's stay positive about positive developments in life, wherever we might find them. This includes the love and happiness & joy of parents who have children with Downs.