Mother: “We Would Have Asked for an Abortion if We Knew” Our Baby Had Down Syndrome

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Nov 30, 2020   |   12:35PM   |   Washington, DC

A new Atlantic article about abortion and Down syndrome has families outraged at the on-going attempts to normalize the eugenic killing of unborn babies with disabilities.

Evita Duffy immediately thought of her youngest sister, 1-year-old Valentina, when she read the piece. Both are the daughters of former pro-life Congressman Sean Duffy and Fox News contributor Rachel Campos Duffy.

Writing at The Federalist, Evita Duffy said she knows that Down syndrome is not easy for the individual or their family; her sister has multiple health problems and already underwent two surgeries.

“However, just because her life has had some difficulties doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have value. She is the joy of our family,” she wrote.

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But some of the interviews in the Atlantic piece seemed to portray her sister’s life and others who have Down syndrome as less valuable because of their disabilities. Duffy said the “sympathetic testimonies from those who validate their decision or their support for abortion as a means of eliminating the hardships and sacrifices that come with caring for a child with special needs” question these children’s value.

She continued:

For example, one woman complained that her child with DS is frustrated with his communication limitations and resorts to biting and fighting with his siblings. The mother, who says she “loves her son,” nonetheless admits, “We would have asked for an abortion if we knew.”

Interestingly, [journalist Sarah] Zhang points out the internal hypocrisy felt by many of the mothers who chose abortion, specifically northern Europeans who fancy themselves progressive and “tolerant.” Lou, one of the mothers she interviewed, confesses, “I think it’s because we as a society like to think of ourselves as inclusive. We are a rich society, and we think it’s important that different types of people should be here.”

Duffy said the article also did not explain why one woman who chose to abort her unborn baby with Down syndrome claimed she had “no regrets” but still broke down in tears when she gave the interview.

The root of the problem is not the “stigma” of abortion but the way society treats human beings, and Duffy said it is time for people to start calling abortion the evil that it is.

“Whether your justification is to ‘spare… [potential] suffering,’ decrease strain on a universal health care system, or on public taxes, or you want to have a career, or you are worried about potential health concerns for your child, killing a disabled child is still wrong,” she wrote. “There is no ‘humanity’ in killing a child. There is no ‘humanity’ in targeting the weak. There is no ‘humanity’ in eugenics.”

The modern abortion industry is rooted in eugenics. Two of the largest abortion chains in the world, Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes International, both were founded by women who strongly believed in eugenics, the notion that some human beings are less valuable than others.

Today, their discriminatory work continues through their namesake abortion chains, which abort millions of unborn babies across the world every year. Many of these babies are the children of poor or minority women or they are children with disabilities – groups targeted by eugenicists for extermination.

According to the Atlantic, in Denmark, 95 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted. Several years ago, CBS News also reported about the shockingly high abortion rate on children with Down syndrome. According to the report, nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland. The rate in France was 77 percent in 2015, 90 percent in the UK and 67 percent in the United States.

The problem is pervasive, and parents frequently report feeling pressured to abort unborn babies with Down syndrome. One mom recently told the BBC that she was pressured to abort her unborn daughter 15 times, including right up to the moment of her baby’s birth. Another mother from Brooklyn, New York said doctors tried to convince her to abort her unborn son for weeks before they took “no” for an answer.

Recently, thousands of British families also expressed outrage after a popular soap opera announced an episode in which two of the main characters choose abortion for their unborn baby after a Down syndrome diagnosis.

The Duffy family and many others are saying enough to these attempts to normalize the killing of children with disabilities. They want society to recognize that every child, born and unborn, deserves to be protected and valued.