A Response to Richard Dawkins on Down Syndrome

by Chris Kaposy from Impact Ethics:
The famous Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins recently declared on twitter that it “would be immoral” to bring a baby with Down syndrome into the world if one has the option of selective abortion. His advice: “Abort it and try again”. Dawkins then explained that he “OBVIOUSLY wouldn’t TELL a woman what to do” (emphasis in original).
Later on his website, Dawkins clarified that he fully supports a woman’s right to choose whether to selectively abort for Down syndrome, but that his own choice would be to abort. He wrote, “Given a free choice of having an early abortion or deliberately bringing a Down child into the world, I think the moral and sensible choice would be to abort”. He called this “an apology”.

I’ll Take Mine with Down Syndrome, Please

from thesassysoutherngal:

The debate rages on. A few weeks ago biologist Richard Dawkins caused the Down syndrome community to go into full attack mode. In response to a woman’s hypothetical question about whether to carry to term a child with Down syndrome, he wrote on Twitter: “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.”   He went on to say that his view was “rooted in the moral principle of reducing overall suffering whenever possible — in this case, that of individuals born with Down syndrome and their families.”

This is not new.  Back in 2011, I wrote the blog post below in response to comments by a healthcare professional about aborting babies because they had Down syndrome. In July 2013, I wrote the blog “Taking Away the Down Syndrome” in response to the new research that says they may be able to shut down the extra chromosome.  It is my all time top blog in terms of readers. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel today though. I just want to post what I’ve already said. Rachel and others with Down syndrome are not afflicted. They are not broken. Research says that most people with Down syndrome are happy. Their siblings are happy. Their parents are happy. That doesn’t mean it is not hard. That doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting. It is called living.

So here you go.

I’ll Take Her With Down Syndrome, Please

Reprinted from November 2011

This weekend we traveled to Little Rock to the Arkansas-Mississippi State football game. One of the highlights of fall for me is traveling to the Little Rock games where we spend a little time with my family and my sister, dad, Jonathan and I go to the games. It’s our tradition and I love it.  We ran into a good friend of ours, one we don’t see often but we have common ground way beyond football. She has invested 30 years of her life into children with disabilities. We have some great conversations.  She has a pure love for individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities. She has a true respect and a beautiful grasp of what all of it means.  She was sharing about a family (no names involved) she had just met who had a baby with Down syndrome.  Apparently some of the early tests showed a high risk for Down syndrome.  A nurse told them the sex of the baby followed with a comment that they might not want to know this because if the test confirmed the “baby was a Downs, they would want to abort.”