Gerson: Trig Palin is a ‘civil rights leader’
September 10th, 2008
Washington Post op-ed columnist Michael Gerson says Trig Palin’s appearance on the national stage comes even as civil rights protections for people with Down syndrome have “rapidly eroded over the last few decades.”
Gerson says the widespread availability and use of prenatal testing has created situation in which “many parents report that genetic counselors and physicians emphasize the difficulties of raising a child with a disability and urge abortion.”
This is properly called eugenic abortion — the ending of “imperfect” lives to remove the social, economic and emotional costs of their existence. And this practice cannot be separated from the broader social treatment of people who have disabilities. By eliminating less perfect humans, deformity and disability become more pronounced and less acceptable. Those who escape the net of screening are often viewed as mistakes or burdens. A tragic choice becomes a presumption — “Didn’t you get an amnio?” — and then a prejudice. And this feeds a social Darwinism in which the stronger are regarded as better, the dependent are viewed as less valuable, and the weak must occasionally be culled.
… the pro-choice radicalism held by [Sen. Edward M.] Kennedy and many others — the absolute elevation of individual autonomy over the rights of the weak — has enabled the new eugenics. It has also created a moral conflict at the heart of the Democratic Party. If traditional Democratic ideology means anything, it is the assertion that America is a single moral community that includes everyone. How can this vision possibly be reconciled with the elimination of children with Down syndrome from American society? Are pro-choice Democrats really comfortable with this choice?
Gerson also recalls the life of French president Charles de Gaulle, who held great affection for his daughter Anne, born in 1928 with Down syndrome.
See my earlier post about Anne de Gaulle here.
See also: It’s a disability, not a death sentence — letter to the editor by Anne Fordemwalt
I am pro-choice, but when 90 percent of pregnancies involving Down syndrome are aborted, this seems more like selective breeding … Maybe instead of encouraging parents to abort simply because a fetus has Down syndrome, doctors should make it a practice to educate parents and inform them that it isn’t a death sentence.
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September 10th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
RE: Trig’s Breakthrough
Michael Gerson did not mention the moral conflict of ‘pro-life’ Republicans who must also be among the 90% of women who terminate their pregnancies with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Are pro-life Republicans actually comfortable with that choice?
Michael Gerson wrote
“…Of the cases of Down syndrome diagnosed by prenatal testing each year, about 90 percent are eliminated by abortion…”
Also:
“there was a third civil rights barrier broken at the political conventions this year.
Trig Paxson Van Palin — pronounced by his mother “beautiful” and “perfect” and applauded at center stage of the Republican convention — smashed the chromosomal barrier. And it was all the more moving for the innocence and indifference of this 4-month-old civil rights leader.”
Correction – at lease one young adult with Down syndrome addressed a convention in 2000 or 2004 – check your facts, please.
Pamela Wilson
SE of Seattle
September 10th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
“I see the child being shamelessly used as a prop, and held up as a shield to deflect meritorious criticisms of the Republican war on children.”
I strongly disagree with this statement. The inclusion of Trig at events with all the other family members demonstrates that the Palin family considers him an equal member of the family and do not hide him. Not only encourages other families to be more open about their family members, but shows to people with disabilities that we value them as equal members of our society. The Palins have only included Trig in family events where all politicians bring their families and never attempted to use him as a prop.
If Palin is elected, I believe that Trig’s inclusion in family events would be the best method to sensitize the public about disabilities and stop be ashamed about it. My husband is a full professor in an ivy league medical school, but both himself and his family regard our child’s disability that is mild, as a state secret that is not supposed to be discussed in public.
I do believe that Palin would be an advocate. Her record in Alaska has already demonstrated that as she increased the special ed budget significantly.
“According to Eddy Jeans at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, funding for special needs and intensive needs students has increased every year since Palin entered office, from a total of $203 million in 2006 to a projected $276 million in 2009.” — From the report by Factcheck.org in Newsweek, Sept. 8, 2008
September 10th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Trig Palin is a baby. But for the serendipity that led him to be born to his particular parents, he would be another child in need of a loving home, and the necessary social, medical, emotional and educational services to help him grow. In fact, he still needs those things, but is far more likely to get them than the vast majority of his peers.
When his mother speaks out — and follows that speech with real action — on behalf of other children, perhaps Gerson’s hollow words might be given meaning. In the meantime, I see the child being shamelessly used as a prop, and held up as a shield to deflect meritorious criticisms of the Republican war on children.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:36 am
The paradox is troubling for many of us who don’t align with either side. The Republican ideology forces the protection of the unborn, with or without disabilities, but lets them fend for themselves once alive. The Democratic ideology vigorously advocates for those with disabilities, but defers to the mothers’ will while in utero. Statistically, that will leads to the elimination of many with disabilities before birth.
In practice, the high number of terminated pregnancies means that choice does affect the number of births of people with disabilities. The missing factor is information and cultural awareness. The troubling aspect for me is that the sole determinant for termination is often a disability that doesn’t match the devastating description put forth by too many who have the education to know differently.
Strength in any child is created from adversity and challenge; we accept this as a tenet of solid parenting. The weak moments create skill and strength far greater than natural, untested development. Our society works in a similar manner; if we eliminate the weak, we lose the drive to intensify the strong as well.
September 10th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I feel the need to point out that Senator Edward Kennedy and the entire Kennedy family have long been outspoken advocates on behalf of children and adults with Down syndrome and other cognitive disabilities. Special Olympics was begun by Eunice Shriver and the Kennedy family through support by Joseph Kennedy Foundation funding.
And Senator Kennedy has been working in bipartisan way with Senator Brownback of Kansas as cosponsors of the Prenatally Diagnosed Conditions and Awareness Act (SB 1810) to bring more federal support for parent education at the time of a prenatal diagnosis of Downs and other prenatally diagnosed conditions, including the condition we represent — Trisomy 18.
Victoria Miller
Founder and Executive Director
Trisomy 18 Foundation
http://www.trisomy18.org