A real downer

People with Down Syndrome always seem to create a certain level of discomfort whenever they come into contact with polite society. They don't inspire hatred or even dislike - just discomfort.

They don't look like us. They don't think like us. They don't act like us. And for all we know, they may not even feel like us.

More often than not, we view them as a burden and an inconvenience. Some of us have concluded that since we would never want to live our lives with Down Syndrome, then no one else could possibly desire or deserve to live their lives with Down Syndrome.

It's that sort of empathy (or is it false empathy?) that now brings us to a great moral dilemma.

Take a look around. If you're a school teacher, how many Down Syndrome kids do you see in your classes? If you're a doctor or a nurse, how many Down Syndrome babies do you see day-to-day in the maternity ward? Compare your observations with those of your co-workers who have been around long enough to see generations of children come through their schools and hospitals.

Now, take another look around. Make it a point to get to know those Down syndrome kids. Hold on to every ounce of wisdom you can gain from helping them through their struggles. Show them all the love they can handle, and cherish all that they return, because children like them may not be with us much longer. It seems that they have become too burdensome, and we have become too selfish.

As the New York Times reported today (try the link here if that one requires registration):

Until this year, only pregnant women 35 and older were routinely tested to see if their fetuses had the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doctors have begun to offer a new, safer screening procedure to all pregnant women, regardless of age.

About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.

The Times goes on to discuss the practical and ethical ramifications of the ACOG's recommendation. Here's one of them, and it is chilling - not so much for what it concludes as for what it assumes:

A dwindling Down syndrome population, which now stands at about 350,000, could mean less institutional support and reduced funds for medical research. It could also mean a lonelier world for those who remain.

Note that no one in the Times story contests the underlying assumption that a large majority of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis will choose to have an abortion. If that assumption holds true and it is accompanied by Down syndrome screening for all pregnant women, then a whole category of human beings may be destined for systematic eradication. Not by curing them, but by killing them.

That is, of course, unless something changes, either in the law or in our hearts.

Yes, people with Down syndrome make us uncomfortable. They force us to deal with issues we would rather avoid while we are busily creating this new world of ours.

They don't look like us. They don't think like us. They don't act like us. And for all we know, they may not even feel like us.

But they struggle with us. They hope with us. They love with us. And they are brave...like us?