What many people do not seem to realize is that what women having the “freedom to choose” actually means is that a preborn child can be aborted any time before birth for any reason.
Although this makes up only a minority of cases, women sometimes abort their children simply because they either have or might have a disability.
Raising a child with a handicap is certainly difficult, but it is possible. There are other options, also.
If a woman honestly does not feel she has the capacity to give a disabled child everything that it might need, she could always consider placing the child for adoption.
Also, most people find it a bit disturbing that anyone can “choose” to abort their preborn child for this or any other reason.
For example, we have already seen countless cases of people who desire a male baby over a female one, and abort for that very reason (sex-selective abortions).
Sometimes the children who are projected to have a disability even turn out to be healthy and normal.
It may surprise you to learn that, in America, it is estimated that over 90% of babies with down syndrome are aborted [1].
Why exactly do we think we have the right to say their lives should be ended?
We have no such right, no one does.
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References
[1] Harmon, Amy. “Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus .”
The New York Times, 9 May 2007. Web. 1 Jun 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09down.html.
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Image from www.adl.org