“What Kind of Society Do You Want to Live In?”
That was the headline on cbsnews.com introducing a story, also broadcast the night before on the network’s news program, On Assignment.1 The rest of the headline read, “Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing.” The CBS News Twitter feed advertising the broadcast stated, “Iceland is on the path to eliminating Down syndrome through abortion.”
There has been a great deal of discussion, accusation, and debate recently about “fake news.” Here we have evidence of modern day yellow journalism. Contrary to what this headline communicates, in the north Atlantic nation of Iceland Down syndrome is not disappearing. No achieved some sort of breakthrough to eliminate it. The number of incidents of babies conceived with this genetic disorder has not declined. What has happened is that Icelanders are aborting nearly 100% of the babies diagnosed through prenatal screening as likely to have Down syndrome. Iceland is not eliminating this disorder. Should we claim to eradicate, say, hearing loss by simply eliminating all deaf people? How absurd!
What a wonderful thing it would be if the medical community in Iceland discovered a treatment or cure for Down syndrome! While the severity of disabilities associated with Down syndrome varies, its growth problems and intellectual disabilities can make life with this abnormality very challenging. However, because a life has challenges does not mean a life has no purpose, or no value. The CBS report did acknowledge that people with Downs can lead “full lives.” The CBS reporter interviewed a woman with Downs living independently in Iceland. She lamented that in Iceland “people see Downs. They don’t see me… I want people to see that I am just like everybody else.”
Sad it is, then, that women who find out their child may have Down syndrome and are wrestling with uncertainty or guilt over the idea of abortion are regularly encouraged to terminate their pregnancy. CBS interviewed a hospital counselor who tells expectant mothers, “This is your life – you have the right to choose how your life will look like.”
Is it simply your life? It is the child’s life. Moreover, it is God’s life.
Scripture makes plain that God made man in the image of God. That likeness to God and its attendant value and dignity extends beyond Adam and Eve to all their descendants. (Gen. 9:6; Jas. 3:9) Scripture also tells us the disabled and handicapped are no less the special creation of God than the healthy and whole. (Ex. 4:11)
Many advocates of the so-called “pro-choice” position seem to have no problem protesting against the monstrous practice of sex-selection abortions practiced commonly in communist China. After all, they argue, women and men are of equal worth. So are the handicapped and disabled. So are children with Down syndrome.
“What kind of a society do you want to live in?” I would prefer a society that values all people, regardless of sex, race, age, health, or handicap. I certainly would not choose to live in a society that practices eugenics in order to exterminate those deemed undesirable. Unfortunately, no one is offering that choice to the Down syndrome children of Iceland. Instead, their parents deny their right to life.
David A. Oliver (B.A., M.A., D.Pas.Th) has been the pastor of Ashley Baptist Church in Belding, MI since 1994. He currently serves as president of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Fellowship of Michigan, and is also president of Proclaiming the Truth, Inc. (Neighborhood Bible Time). He also serves as chaplain for two west Michigan fire departments. He and his wife Penny have been married since 1987, and have three children and two grandchildren.
- The story is from August 14, 2017. [↩]
Excellent Article.