Kurt Kondrich
Down syndrome postnatal and prenatal punishment - - The REAL Deficit!
By Kurt Kondrich
This past week a jury awarded nearly $3 million to a couple whose daughter was born with Down syndrome even though a prenatal test found she didn't have the chromosomal abnormality.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/03/jury_rules_in_portland-area_co.html
The jury voted 12-0, and they took less than six hours before reaching a verdict in the case. According to the article, the money will cover the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for a child with Down syndrome. The couple sued, claiming the mother would have "aborted her pregnancy had she known her daughter had the chromosomal abnormality." The case was one of a handful of so-called "wrongful birth" suits estimated to be filed each year in the United States, and this represents a very slippery slope for all of us.
As a former police officer it is clear that this beautiful child was viewed as a punishment to her family and society from the time of conception. Basically the child was found "guilty" of having postnatalDown syndrome and the punishment was $3 million. Had the child been found "prenatally guilty" of having Down syndrome the punishment would have been termination. According to several studies, 89% + of expectant mothers who learned their children would have Down syndrome chose to terminate the pregnancies, and this punitive ruling will only serve to increase that statistic as medical professionals fear the ramifications of "wrongful birth" lawsuits.
As the father of a beautiful 8 year old daughter Chloe who has Down syndrome I found this incident very disturbing, and Chloe has already saved lives by showing couples the true beauty and perfection of children like her. Chloe attends 3rd grade at her neighborhood school with typical peers and reads at a 3rd grade level — better than many "typical" adults I know. Chloe plays baseball, has met many VIPs, is on a book, is treasured by her family, community and school, and she has brought more light into this world in 8 years than most people do in a lifetime. Chloe loves her brother deeply and he adores her — their relationship truly is one of the most incredible and heavenly things I have observed on this earth. The parents who received the $3 million settlement have other children, and I wonder what they will tell them when they are older and realize that their sister would have been eliminated prenatally and was not seen as a priceless gift when she arrived in this world.
We hear a lot in the news about deficits across the globe, and many feel we are heading off the side of a cliff when it comes to national and worldwide debt. I would argue that the real deficit facing humanity is the silent destruction of our most precious, irreplaceable resource — human life. If we do not stop the slaughter of our most vulnerable citizens there will be no amount of money or gold that can make up the debt incurred. We are all one accident or illness away from becoming disabled, and if we don't wake up very soon we will all be targeted one day for termination when we no longer have the prenatal/postnatal qualities of distorted perfection mandated by a culture of death. May God help us!
© Kurt Kondrich
March 13, 2012
This past week a jury awarded nearly $3 million to a couple whose daughter was born with Down syndrome even though a prenatal test found she didn't have the chromosomal abnormality.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/
The jury voted 12-0, and they took less than six hours before reaching a verdict in the case. According to the article, the money will cover the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for a child with Down syndrome. The couple sued, claiming the mother would have "aborted her pregnancy had she known her daughter had the chromosomal abnormality." The case was one of a handful of so-called "wrongful birth" suits estimated to be filed each year in the United States, and this represents a very slippery slope for all of us.
As a former police officer it is clear that this beautiful child was viewed as a punishment to her family and society from the time of conception. Basically the child was found "guilty" of having postnatalDown syndrome and the punishment was $3 million. Had the child been found "prenatally guilty" of having Down syndrome the punishment would have been termination. According to several studies, 89% + of expectant mothers who learned their children would have Down syndrome chose to terminate the pregnancies, and this punitive ruling will only serve to increase that statistic as medical professionals fear the ramifications of "wrongful birth" lawsuits.
As the father of a beautiful 8 year old daughter Chloe who has Down syndrome I found this incident very disturbing, and Chloe has already saved lives by showing couples the true beauty and perfection of children like her. Chloe attends 3rd grade at her neighborhood school with typical peers and reads at a 3rd grade level — better than many "typical" adults I know. Chloe plays baseball, has met many VIPs, is on a book, is treasured by her family, community and school, and she has brought more light into this world in 8 years than most people do in a lifetime. Chloe loves her brother deeply and he adores her — their relationship truly is one of the most incredible and heavenly things I have observed on this earth. The parents who received the $3 million settlement have other children, and I wonder what they will tell them when they are older and realize that their sister would have been eliminated prenatally and was not seen as a priceless gift when she arrived in this world.
We hear a lot in the news about deficits across the globe, and many feel we are heading off the side of a cliff when it comes to national and worldwide debt. I would argue that the real deficit facing humanity is the silent destruction of our most precious, irreplaceable resource — human life. If we do not stop the slaughter of our most vulnerable citizens there will be no amount of money or gold that can make up the debt incurred. We are all one accident or illness away from becoming disabled, and if we don't wake up very soon we will all be targeted one day for termination when we no longer have the prenatal/postnatal qualities of distorted perfection mandated by a culture of death. May God help us!
© Kurt Kondrich
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
