My turn to weigh in
A lot of Catholic bloggers are writing about this Washington Post story (my official credit goes to Open Book). I can cut to the chase, particularly if you are sensitive to something like this, but basically this 42-year-old writer and her 52-year-old boyfriend decide to get pregnant (and neither of them have any children yet either), and then terminate the pregnancy because they find out their son has Down's Syndrome. Yes, she is far along enough in the pregnancy to know she is carrying a boy, and then terminates anyway.
I had posted something similar about the Down's Syndrome-abortion thing a while ago, about how sometime in the near future you will know you've met a "Jesus Freak" when they have a disabled child. But with this recent story in the WaPo, a few things struck me further. First of all, if this story had been written by someone expecting their first child at 22 or even 32, I could chalk up the desire to terminate and try try again to their age, their being fooled into thinking that they can just get pregnant again, and next time the child will be perfect. Heck, I know I am delusional thinking that we will have two or three more kids. With my age, my naturally crappy hormone levels, and our living arrangements, we will be very lucky indeed to see another pregnancy in this lifetime. I mean, this writer is 42! How much more delusional than I can she be?
And more importantly, and I hadn't seen anyone in other blogs or comboxes even mention something like this, but even after you bring home your normal baby, there is no guarantee beyond that your child will remain "normal." They could be disfigured in a car accident. They could nearly drown in the tub, and suffer a lifetime of retardation due to the loss of oxygen. You may have brought home a normal child, but you may be spending her 4th birthday in a Ronald MacDonald House. You could be wondering what to do with baseball tickets you have just received from Make-a-Wish three weeks after your son's funeral. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES.
THAT is the fallacy of selective abortion. You think you are sparing yourself and your potential child some lifetime of pain and stress and grief and suffering. The only way to do that is not even to get pregnant in the first place. You won't even have a miscarriage or abortion to grieve.
I had posted something similar about the Down's Syndrome-abortion thing a while ago, about how sometime in the near future you will know you've met a "Jesus Freak" when they have a disabled child. But with this recent story in the WaPo, a few things struck me further. First of all, if this story had been written by someone expecting their first child at 22 or even 32, I could chalk up the desire to terminate and try try again to their age, their being fooled into thinking that they can just get pregnant again, and next time the child will be perfect. Heck, I know I am delusional thinking that we will have two or three more kids. With my age, my naturally crappy hormone levels, and our living arrangements, we will be very lucky indeed to see another pregnancy in this lifetime. I mean, this writer is 42! How much more delusional than I can she be?
And more importantly, and I hadn't seen anyone in other blogs or comboxes even mention something like this, but even after you bring home your normal baby, there is no guarantee beyond that your child will remain "normal." They could be disfigured in a car accident. They could nearly drown in the tub, and suffer a lifetime of retardation due to the loss of oxygen. You may have brought home a normal child, but you may be spending her 4th birthday in a Ronald MacDonald House. You could be wondering what to do with baseball tickets you have just received from Make-a-Wish three weeks after your son's funeral. THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES.
THAT is the fallacy of selective abortion. You think you are sparing yourself and your potential child some lifetime of pain and stress and grief and suffering. The only way to do that is not even to get pregnant in the first place. You won't even have a miscarriage or abortion to grieve.
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