I have "met" so many wonderful people in the Down syndrome community since Erin's birth. It is certianly one of the extra bonuses that comes with the extra 21st chromosome. I remember a dear friend who also has a daughter with Ds saying to me, "Welcome to the family", when Erin was born. So true! And what an amazing group of people make up this family!
One such family member is Kurt Kondrich. He has a beautiful daughter, Chloe, who is three years older than Erin. I have not met Kurt in person, but we are both involved with the Internation Down Syndrome Coalition for Life.
Here is a little more on Kurt, his passion regarding the dignity for all life, and a powerful article he wrote...
Kurt A. Kondrich is a 20 year veteran of the Pittsburgh police force. Six years ago his daughter Chloe was born with Down Syndrome. This motivated Kondrich to return to college to earn a masters degree in Early Intervention. After graduation he retired from his law enforcement career to become Director of Community/Family Outreach for Early Intervention in the Pittsburgh area. Kondrich read a news report last week about the Sarasota, Florida abortionist who lamented killing the "wrong" unborn child during a selective reduction procedure to eliminate a Down syndrome fetus. The father of Chloe and advocate for Down syndrome children could not sleep that night and got up at 3 a.m. to write the following response to the news article:
Targeted for Termination
This past week I read an article that disturbed me deeply concerning a Florida doctor who had his license revoked . The article stated that the doctor "lost his license for mistakenly aborting a healthy twin during a procedure targeting a deformed fetus." The doctor was "targeting a fetus with Down syndrome", and he admitted he "screwed up". Based on the facts presented in this article one can conclude that if the doctor had properly targeted the unborn child with Down syndrome and successfully terminated this twin then he would have kept his medical license.
My beautiful 6 year old daughter Chloe has Down syndrome and has brought immeasurable good and Blessings into this world, and I have observed no "deformities" about her. Parents of children with disabilities have fought very hard over the past decades to have our children fully included and accepted in schools and communities. We have made great progress with "inclusion" since the days of institutionalization, but with prenatal testing we have now entered a slippery slope that is rapidly turning into solid ice. If our society devalues the life of a person with a prenatal diagnosed disability and targets them for termination then this represents the ultimate "exclusion" and eventual "extinction".
Currently 90%+ of children diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome are "excluded" from ever shining their bright light in a lost world that has become obsessed with perfection and unrealistic traits. If the proper practice of medicine in our culture includes the skill of identifying and eliminating a prenatal twin who fails to meet the criteria of "normal", then we truly do need a massive overhaul of the "health care" system, and it is the soul of our nation that is "deformed".
You can access the article here.
Showing posts with label pro-life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pro-life. Show all posts
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, October 2, 2009
Wow, It's October!
Not only is October a very beautiful month here in Wisconsin, but did you know it is also both Respect Life month and Down Syndrome Awareness month? And, isn't it even more lovely that October 1st is, as my Catholic friends know, the feast day of our much loved Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux? She teaches us how we can love God in our own little ways, as children do. (These little ways are much more difficult to do on a regular basis, but they sure add up to big ways!) I think she is a wonderful patron saint for my little Erin to emulate.
As for Down Syndrome Awareness month, specifically, there are some great sources on the web, and on my sidebar, for learning more. If you have any questions about Down syndrome, or Erin, feel free to ask away and I will be more than happy to answer questions. If I do not know the answer, it would be my pleasure to look it up. Honestly, I love researching and talking about Down syndrome, so I do hope I get as least one question :)
I would just like to bring one issue into greater awareness, and that would be, conveniently, combining the respect life and Down syndrome pieces together. After all, if we cannot respect the right to life of an individual with Down syndrome, there is not much point in offering further awarness. In our country, 90% of parent who receive a prenatal diagnosis abort their child with Down syndrome. There are many factors that play a role in that startling statistic. It is my prayer that ALL life, born and unborn, will be seen as precious, respected and protected. And from a more personal perspective, it is my prayer that those blessed with an extra chromosome will be valued and not singled out for termination simply because of their genetic make-up. That is called eugenics. I pray that other parents will experience the honor and joy that Mike and I have, when parenting a child with special needs. St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, pray for us!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. Mt 18:1-5,10
Friday, October 10, 2008
Power of Life Event
Wow, it's been a long time since we've updated the blog! I think we have been extra busy with school and events! It doesn't help that my camera broke. There's less motivation to get something on the blog without new pictures.
Last weekend we attended the first annual Power of Life event in our local area. It was a lot of fun meeting up with friends and listening to speakers and performers.
We were able to meet up in person with some friends of ours who we have spoken with on the phone. Here's Erin with their youngest child, little John Paul, who is a month younger than Erin.
We were also able to attend the drama production The Princess and the Kiss. Here's Moira with her good friend Andi, one of the lead actors in the play
We were all thrilled to meet up with Righteous b, good friend of Mike's brother Tim, who is a talented musician. His specialty is Rap. He performed for the event, and we were able to host Bob and his DJ, Dave, at our house for the weekend.
Here's Righteous b, Dave, Kelly and a friend of ours having fun!
Last weekend we attended the first annual Power of Life event in our local area. It was a lot of fun meeting up with friends and listening to speakers and performers.
We were able to meet up in person with some friends of ours who we have spoken with on the phone. Here's Erin with their youngest child, little John Paul, who is a month younger than Erin.
We were also able to attend the drama production The Princess and the Kiss. Here's Moira with her good friend Andi, one of the lead actors in the play
We were all thrilled to meet up with Righteous b, good friend of Mike's brother Tim, who is a talented musician. His specialty is Rap. He performed for the event, and we were able to host Bob and his DJ, Dave, at our house for the weekend.
Here's Righteous b, Dave, Kelly and a friend of ours having fun!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Eliminating Down Syndrome...One Baby at a Time
I usually try to keep the posts on our little blog (which is really just a family scrap book) very light. I want our blog to just be a fun place for photos and family fun. However, given the seriousness of this topic, and how closely it impacts our hearts here, I feel the duty to educate, and to ask for prayers. So, here goes...
There will soon be available a new, noninvasive, prenatal test that is near 100% accurate in diagnosing unborn babies with Down syndrome. This test will involve a simple blood draw from the mother in the early weeks of pregnancy. It will most likely replace the more invasive tests of amniocentesis and CVS, which are currently offered in the second trimester. In addition to this highly acclaimed new testing, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) have new recommendations for who should receive this testing. Instead of the previous smaller group of advanced maternal age mothers, it is now recommended that all mothers get the screenings and/or diagnostic tests for Ds. Evidently, there were too many babies slipping through the cracks with the old recommendations (80% of babies with Ds are born to mothers under the age of 35). For the average person, this may all sound well and good. After all, in one sense, we can all benefit from knowing more information. One may think of how far medicine has come and how helpful it is that parents can know earlier that their child has Down syndrome.
However, statistics tell us that 90-94% of prenatally diagnosed babies with Down syndrome are aborted. And it has been documented (and I can tell you first hand as well) that when most doctors deliver the news, or rather "break" the news, to parents that their child has Ds, it is done with a bias. The diagnosis is typically delivered without any up-to-date information on Ds, without any Ds support contacts provided, and often times without compassion. The news IS delivered with an assumption that the parents will prudently, and even unselfishly abort their child. I know of many parents who have been told that their child will never walk, talk or go to school. Parents have been told that their child will suffer and not live to adulthood (the average person with Ds now lives well into their late 50's and even 60's). There is pressure from the medical community to "do the right thing".
As you can tell, I am not very excited about these "medical advancements". It inevitably means that there will be less children in this world like our sweet Erin. In fact, if the abortion rate reaches 95%, as it is in Europe, we may be seeing very, very few children with Ds...the last generation. Imagine the support and help our kids could have if the millions of dollars spent on seek and destroy methods in medicine could be used for legitimate research and therapies. And with less of our children here, it will impact the medical care that those living will receive. And of course I cannot even begin to measure how many lives our children have touched for the better and how they've made our world a better place.
All of this does make me ask the question...Why? Why is there a eugenics holocaust going on in our country, and around the world, against people with disabilities? Why is there such a push to do away with the individuals who are disabled, rather than the disability? Is it because sweet children like Erin fill our prisons and commit serious crimes? Is it because they aren't loved by their parents? I think not. Is it about the almighty dollar? Maybe. Or is it because our generation of parents are demanding the "perfect" child, and the doctors and researcher are following along, very much willing to play God, out of fear of lawsuits? More likely. Another answer would probably be that 30+ years of abortion on demand in this country has left us numb; we are accustomed to treating the unborn with less dignity and respect than they rightly deserve.
It is my prayer that others will come to see the blessings that come with parenting a child with Down syndrome. In my perfect world, I would hope that everyone could experience the special charm and love that we have experienced, either as parents themselves, or in knowing someone with Ds. I truly believe that Erin is a gift for the world. We are sure smitten with her!
There will soon be available a new, noninvasive, prenatal test that is near 100% accurate in diagnosing unborn babies with Down syndrome. This test will involve a simple blood draw from the mother in the early weeks of pregnancy. It will most likely replace the more invasive tests of amniocentesis and CVS, which are currently offered in the second trimester. In addition to this highly acclaimed new testing, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) have new recommendations for who should receive this testing. Instead of the previous smaller group of advanced maternal age mothers, it is now recommended that all mothers get the screenings and/or diagnostic tests for Ds. Evidently, there were too many babies slipping through the cracks with the old recommendations (80% of babies with Ds are born to mothers under the age of 35). For the average person, this may all sound well and good. After all, in one sense, we can all benefit from knowing more information. One may think of how far medicine has come and how helpful it is that parents can know earlier that their child has Down syndrome.
However, statistics tell us that 90-94% of prenatally diagnosed babies with Down syndrome are aborted. And it has been documented (and I can tell you first hand as well) that when most doctors deliver the news, or rather "break" the news, to parents that their child has Ds, it is done with a bias. The diagnosis is typically delivered without any up-to-date information on Ds, without any Ds support contacts provided, and often times without compassion. The news IS delivered with an assumption that the parents will prudently, and even unselfishly abort their child. I know of many parents who have been told that their child will never walk, talk or go to school. Parents have been told that their child will suffer and not live to adulthood (the average person with Ds now lives well into their late 50's and even 60's). There is pressure from the medical community to "do the right thing".
As you can tell, I am not very excited about these "medical advancements". It inevitably means that there will be less children in this world like our sweet Erin. In fact, if the abortion rate reaches 95%, as it is in Europe, we may be seeing very, very few children with Ds...the last generation. Imagine the support and help our kids could have if the millions of dollars spent on seek and destroy methods in medicine could be used for legitimate research and therapies. And with less of our children here, it will impact the medical care that those living will receive. And of course I cannot even begin to measure how many lives our children have touched for the better and how they've made our world a better place.
All of this does make me ask the question...Why? Why is there a eugenics holocaust going on in our country, and around the world, against people with disabilities? Why is there such a push to do away with the individuals who are disabled, rather than the disability? Is it because sweet children like Erin fill our prisons and commit serious crimes? Is it because they aren't loved by their parents? I think not. Is it about the almighty dollar? Maybe. Or is it because our generation of parents are demanding the "perfect" child, and the doctors and researcher are following along, very much willing to play God, out of fear of lawsuits? More likely. Another answer would probably be that 30+ years of abortion on demand in this country has left us numb; we are accustomed to treating the unborn with less dignity and respect than they rightly deserve.
It is my prayer that others will come to see the blessings that come with parenting a child with Down syndrome. In my perfect world, I would hope that everyone could experience the special charm and love that we have experienced, either as parents themselves, or in knowing someone with Ds. I truly believe that Erin is a gift for the world. We are sure smitten with her!
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