Aborting the Disabled

Foreword: I was told that I couldn't publish this article for a Christian newspaper because it was too "evangelical." If aborting children with disabilities is okay, then I'm ready to be too evangelical, whatever that means.

Aborting the Disabled

James 1:2-8

“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

In 2008, I switched my career focus from working towards being a college professor to working as a teacher because of a crisis in my family. My oldest son was diagnosed with a learning disability months after he attempted to take his own life twice: at nine years old. If you think you have been angry at God, then you haven’t really been angry at God until you are mad at Him on behalf of one of your children. After switching careers, one of my first teaching positions was as a substitute in Springfield Public Schools at Reed Middle School, now Reed Academy. I was placed, against my wishes, as a long-term substitute in a special education classroom for students with profound disabilities. On my first day, I told myself, "This is something you'll need to do in order to get to where you want to be." By the end of week two, I knew this is where I wanted to be. I wanted to work with children with moderate to severe disabilities. I went from using the "r" word in conversation to hating that word. Those two weeks changed my life, like a religious conversion, and I spent twelve years in special education before I became disabled.

Teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, but we do. In every classroom, I had lots of favorites. My favorite people were students and they just happened to have autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, microcephaly, and many other disabilities. I taught kids with unique and rare genetic disorders. Outside of a specialist clinic, special education teachers see more types of disabilities than almost any other professional. I had learned my students weren't their genetic disorder or their medical disorder. My students were lively, with huge personalities, happy to give undeserved hugs, willing to trust you if you respected them, and my greatest teachers. I learned a type of humbleness from them which I would eventually have to apply to my own life and disability. I learned I had value, not because of what I could do or how I made other people feel. I had value right down to my roots because I was valued by God. As a Christian, I saw God's value in each of my students. I had students betrayed by their own muscles and who would never move on their own. I had students who were blind, only because their brain was so damaged, it couldn't spare the power to provide sight. I loved all these beautiful students; I knew they were God's creations and not mistakes. Being disabled doesn't make you less human. Being disabled doesn't diminish you and being disabled doesn't make you anymore of a burden than any other human being. Quite often, disability makes you more interesting and more complex. I can't tell you how many times I was out-smarted, out-loved, and out-humaned by my students.

We are familiar with Roe v. Wade, but the case which reversed Roe v. Wade, is coming up on its first anniversary. In this article, I want to touch on one aspect of abortion and focus just on one disability, Down syndrome. I know there are many considerations, arguments, and people on both sides. Choosing to focus on terminating a child with a Down Syndrome diagnosis through abortion gives us a new perspective on abortion. Choosing to focus on this one issue is not hiding from the other issues.

Because I was only a teacher, I want to acknowledge my limitations in this argument. I have not raised a child with Down syndrome. To help gain more insight, I reached out to a local author, Michelle Bates, who wrote the book, Beyond the Shallow: How Suffering Led Me to the Deep End of Grace. In the book, she takes you through immense grief and how preaching the prosperity gospel harms families. Michelle has a daughter with Down syndrome. I also spoke with Melissa and Adam Oakes about their daughter with Down syndrome. Both families are Christians and have struggled with every aspect of raising a child with Down syndrome. Christian families will face many of the same struggles as a non-believing parent would, but their worldviews will lead to different responses. Some of those responses are placed there by bad theology and some responses are God’s gifts to Christians. I want to acknowledge the differences because I am not interviewing non-believing parents for this article. One of my temptations, with a philosophical background, is for me to create a logical argument comparing abortion to other social evils because I believe abortion as eugenics is a barbarism, left over from our pagan days. However, while such an argument has a place, I don’t want to start with logic which often fails to take into account personal experience and the lives of people who go through trials and tribulations. Instead I would rather highlight some of the things Michelle Bates and Melissa and Adam Oaks have said about their daughters.


What was unique about their child?

Melissa replied, “She is unique because no one is like her. God made her just like she is.” Adam said,” Everything. She surprises us all the time with what she is able to do. My expectations were low. I was terrified. She always exceeded our expectations.” Michelle pointed me to her book where she writes, “She was tiny and beautiful with her slanted eyes, straight line across the palms of her hands and space between her toes. All three pounds and eleven ounces of her . . . We could already tell she was a fighter–we were just unprepared for it.” (2019, p. 28).


Do you develop a support group?

Michelle shared she struggled to deal with it all right away, but people came into her life. “When Tullie was born, I didn’t deal with it right away. I figured God had this, and I just needed to be grateful for what I had been given.” (2019, p. 31). A friend named Tami spoke with her, “Sometimes we need to say the things that we keep thinking. We just need to get it out. They may not be nice things. They may not be ‘Christian’ things. They are human things.” (Bates, 2019, p. 31). Melissa shared there are, “Local and National Down syndrome organizations. Friends and family.” Adam shared, and I love him for this because I also rely on my wife for social support. “That is my wife’s area. There are so many resources we can’t use them all.”

What blessings have you received from raising a child with Down syndrome?

Adam shared, “Every day . . . she is the biggest blessing and we would have missed out on so much if she had been adopted [out]. They [children like Ashland] are more blessed than we are and they have more joy than we have.” Melissa wrote, “She has taught us so much. Our family has become closer. She has taught us that no matter your disabilities, you can accomplish it. She has no worries. She has taught our son to be respectful to other children with disabilities or if they are just struggling. We volunteer more than we ever have.” Michelle wrote, “Tullie has a special sense of knowing someone’s emotional needs. She has a quiet, comforting presence,” (2019, p. 34).

Do you think it’s cruel to raise a child with Down syndrome?

Melissa was emphatic. “Absolutely NOT. God has made them in a special way. It does not matter. God is in control. They are human just like anybody. Everyone is made a little different.” Adam was as empathic. “100% wrong. It is a joy and a blessing on both sides. It is a gift that God gives you to raise this child. She is an extremely loving, joyful caring individual. It would be evil to feel that way.” Michelle writes, “After Tullie was born, many people told us they were praying that Jesus would heal Tullie of her Down syndrome . . . If I also believe that my daughter is fearfully and wonderfully made, I believe he created her in my womb tripling the 21st chromosome. He did that with a purpose and for his glory. Just as he did for the man in the Gospels who was born blind. Just as he did for the rest of us. We were made for his purpose and his glory,” (2019, p. 32).

How does being a Christian affect your parenting and your child?

Michelle affirms, “Jesus knew we needed Tullie. He knew we needed her quiet spirit. Her long hugs. Her smile and her belly laugh. He knew we needed to learn patience through her slowness getting out of the car. Her siblings needed her love for them despite the times they are mean and unkind,” (2019, pp. 33–34). Melissa simply quoted, Ephesians 6:13 which I will share also. “13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Adam told me, “Our Christian beliefs about how God gives us grace is how we should model by Christ’s example. The way we ought to try to parent is how God treats us. Showing your children love like Christ and disciplining and giving tons of grace.”

The Oaks and Michelle shared so much more with me, but I encourage you to read and educate yourself on this issue. I think the best articles about children with disability and how it relates to abortion are not written by government agencies but parents who have raised children with Down syndrome and I would point you to this blog as an example, A Musing Maralee. Michelle Bates wrote an article for the Blog about how the medical community pushes young mothers and families towards aborting children with Down syndrome. In an email, she shared, “98% of prenatal diagnosis testing results in an abortion if it is positive for DS or other abnormalities. DS is also known as Trisomy 21 and is not life-threatening.” In my own research, I found medical doctors making similar statements to families about how hard it would be to raise a child with Down syndrome and they then list every possible medical diagnosis which comes with this diagnosis.

However, articles like this one at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service overpromise the worst and rarely share the joy of raising a child with Down syndrome or any disability. In the articles, they claim opponents of abortion use emotions to diminish the downsides of Down syndrome and use emotions to over promise the upsides. I’m aware in this article you are reading, I am using emotion to share how even though these families suffered through grief and loss of expectations, they found renewed faith despite the pain. Their faith wasn’t diminished by having a child with Down syndrome, but because they walked through pain and death and were open to God, they learned to be grateful to God. I have repeatedly pointed to James 1:2-8 throughout this article because too many people misunderstand it and misuse it. James 1:2-8 teaches one of the hardest truths of the faith. God will not stop your suffering, but He can help you find joy in it and through that process bring you even closer to him and doubts about his goodness is not the same as lacking faith in God. Often your doubts about God are doubts about bad theology which interferes with your relationship with God.

I have written a complementary article to this one at my website. It moves beyond emotions and looks at abortion of children with a disability as a type of Eugenics. In the article, I rely on logic rather than emotion. This tough moral issue isn’t simply emotional and it isn’t simply logical. There are two virtues at play here. The one virtue is the suffering of the child and the family. The second is the moral evil of Eugenics in a nation and culture. At first glance, they can appear to be two separate issues, but by writing the two articles, I want you to see they are both the same issue and sometimes faith is learning to hold onto two virtues as both true, even if they seem opposed to one another at first, just as James 1:2-8 teaches.

Opposition Articles

https://www.bpas.org/get-involved/campaigns/briefings/fetal-anomaly/
https://www.government.is/diplomatic-missions/embassy-article/2018/03/26/Facts-about-Downs-syndrome-and-pre-natal-screening-in-Iceland/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2802681
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/down-syndrome-abortion-bans-gain-traction-after-court-ruling
https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/Eugenics-and-Scientific-Racism#:~:text=American%20eugenicists%20from%20a%20variety,states'%20laws%20by%20the%201970s.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26322647/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20members,upheld%20such%20laws%20in%201927.


Non-Opposition Articles
https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/2022/3/down-syndrome-and-social-capital-assessing-the-costs-of-selective-abortion

https://righttolife.org.uk/news/iceland-called-out-at-un-for-aborting-almost-100-of-babies-diagnosed-with-downs-syndrome

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/margaret-sanger-wasn-t-just-a-racist-she-also-targeted-disable
d-people

https://www.amusingmaralee.com/2014/10/down-syndrome-awareness-embracing-life/


https://www.state.gov/what-is-modern-slavery/



Slavery
References


Bates, M. (2019). Beyond the Shallow: How suffering led me to the deep end of grace (pp. 1–122). Lucidbooks.