Term life
We’re not talking insurance policies here. Unless it’s the guarantee of life for babies detected to have Down syndrome, instead of the too common fate of being aborted.
This story draws attention to the issues for families, and society in general.
When Missouri Sen. John Loudon and his wife, Gina, decided to adopt their third child, they knew three things: They wanted a little boy, they would name him Samuel and he would have Down syndrome.
“This was always part of the plan,” said Gina Loudon as their now 3-year-old Sammy darted in and out of the living room in his slippers, giggling loudly.
“We didn’t know much about how it was going to happen, but we just knew.”
What a loving couple. Here’s their background:
The politically active couple with deep roots in the anti-abortion movement said their passion for Sammy spurred them to take legislative action on behalf of children with Down syndrome.
Note it didn’t say pro-life movement. It’s a matter of semantics for the press, to shape public opinion. But you know that…
It also put them in the center of an ongoing national discussion about genetic testing, the acceptance of people with disabilities and the type of information about Down syndrome that new or expecting parents were getting from their doctors.
Which gets us back to the important issue of informed consent.
Various studies estimate that 80 to 90 percent of parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome through genetic testing choose to abort the fetus. Researchers believe this is the cause behind an 8 percent decline in people with Down syndrome in the United States in the past two decades.
That diagnosis is only one piece of information for the couple. They need and deserve to be fully informed.
In 2007, with similar federal legislation already in the works, John Loudon pushed through “Sammy’s Law.” The law requires medical professionals to provide accurate information on the outcomes of people with Down syndrome and inform mothers with a Down diagnosis of adoption resources.
The couple are now celebrating the most recent step in what they view as a mission. In October, the bipartisan Kennedy-Brownback Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act was signed into federal law.
Nancy Valko, my nurse friend (and bioethics expert) who sent me this story, points out what comes next in the article, and adds her comment:
Note this: “But some physicians and abortion-rights advocates worry that such legislation could pry open the door of privacy between doctors and patients. And they question the law’s premise that parents are terminating pregnancies without full information about Down syndrome.”
Informed consent requirements are routinely criticized by both euthanasia and abortion supporters. Death is the real goal, not “choice.”
Right. It’s a matter of terms. Their terms.
