The fact that the Palins’ infant son has Down syndrome presents an opportunity to focus on those with disabilities, but abortion cannot be ignored when discussing Down syndrome, considering that 90 percent of American women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome elect to have abortions, and that a new non-invasive Down syndrome prenatal test will be available soon.

Because Sarah Palin was tested and did not have an abortion, she is in a small minority. As a father of a daughter with Down syndrome, I say “way to go” to Sarah Palin and the rest of the 10 percent who choose not to abort. I also say welcome to the club, and that in my experience, the good in having a child with Down syndrome far outweighs the bad, despite the picture Ms. Crosby paints. Ms. Crosby is right — we should embrace Trig’s prominence as an opportunity to show that those with disabilities are worth helping. But I also hope Trig becomes a symbol to many that people with disabilities are worth bringing into this world.

Bringing a child with an obvious intellectual disability into a campaign that is giving airtime to his disability is a sticky place to be. Obviously I am loving Trig’s visibility, but I am trying to consider the long term effects of the way his visibility is being presented. I am still considering too…

However, that doesn’t mean that I believe she will be able to (or even want to) advocate for my children. Advocacy is so much more than exposure, and while I love the exposure she is bringing the Down syndrome community, it would be a valid argument to make the case that Palin is not only exploiting her child to pander to the disability and pro life communities, but that by allowing her campaign to emphasize that she still had a baby with a disability following a prenatal diagnosis, she is ultimately objectifying his disability. Unfortunately much of the press Governor Palin has received has been based on the fact that she knowingly gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome – something that endeared her to the Christian right and I am sure was a factor in McCain choosing her for his running mate (as he had to try to reach out to the more conservative Christian, Libertarian, and Independent demographic). McCain supporters nearly fell over themselves rushing to tell the world that Palin is a woman of her word; she is SO pro-life she had a baby with a disability. Statements and implications such as this do the disability community no favors, as they are based on the assumption that disability is inherently negative and while the reinforce the claims of her moral fiber, they completely objectify a baby who should have the same right of any other baby…to just be a bay and to be wanted for him. I am not necessarily saying that Palin is draining her son of individuality and turning him into a negative assumption that must be overcome intentionally (though what do I know in the way of politics?), but her campaign is accomplishing just that by telling the world to leave her family alone and respect their privacy minutes before trotting them all out on stage amongst adoring fans and managers that are enunciating the choice that Gov. Palin made in choosing Trig.

As for advocacy, Palin is against “big government” and is running on a ticket known for cutting social and medical programs that serve the disability community (As she is pro-life even in the most extreme cases, disallowing abortions in the case of rape, incest, or health, she actually isn’t for small government, she is for different government. I can’t imagine a government bigger than the one that legislates what happens inside the bodies of half the population). The disability community needs big government, not smaller government. We need to not only have rights and access to independent living, employment, education, and medical treatment, but funding to ensure that the legislative rights aren’t a moot point. Access isn’t simply being permitted to enter, it is being able to enter, and in many cases accommodations are required to support that entrance. We have seen what the free market does for people with disabilities – nothing. Businesses don’t provide wheelchair access because it is the only way a person in a wheelchair can participate in their business, they do it because they have to. In order to reduce the burden on private industry for the accommodations that are necessary for the constitution to be applicable to ALL people, the government has to provide incentives. You can’t tell a school it has to educate all of it’s students appropriately, even when that means one on one course instructions, and not enable them to provide that support.

This then is what big government is. This is the government both of my children need – one that will ensure their safety and well being and afford them every avenue for self reliance so they may grow into their full potential and eventually become more independent. This is an investment we need our government to make in the disability community because it give rise to it’s own industries and while the initial investment is expensive, this is the best chance society has of creating more tax payers in society.

Those that don’t believe in big government often don’t want to make this investment. My children are too expensive; I should pull my family up by the bootstraps and make it happen myself. We should take care of our own.

And when will those that disavow the big government I speak of realize this is taking care of our own?

If this is the big government Sarah Palin is decrying, then she is fundamentally unable to represent my children or advocate for them. She will have more potential to damage the current system (which is failing as it is) than to heal it, and even if she had a thousand children with Down syndrome, nothing could change that.

This is Sarah Palin’s chance to tell me how she wants to advocate for my family. So far I know she wants to undermine freedom of choice and allow assault weapons on the street. I know she doesn’t support sexual education in public schools (which went real well for her own family, might I add) and that she is running on a ticket that has a long and in-noble history of slashing programs and medical access for the disability community.

She has roughly 60 days to show me how she can overcome this and find a way to be the advocate I need her to be. There is nothing more in the world that I would enjoy more than eating my words, but until she serves them up for supper, my vote is blue all the way.