Op-ed: ‘Shame on doctors prejudiced against Down syndrome’
December 1st, 2008Columnist Dominic Lawson, writing in the [UK] Independent, says the medical profession is biased in favor of ‘eugenic termination’ of fetuses with Down syndrome. Lawson’s 13-year-old daughter Domenica has Down syndrome. An excerpt:
[The anti-Down syndrome bias of the medical profession] is not based on a realistic and up-to-date assessment of the possibilities open to those with Down Syndrome, still less of the happiness which such people can and do bring to families and even communities as a whole: it is a function of the fact –- which is undeniable –- that people with Down Syndrome are likely to cost the NHS (National Health Service) more in subsequent medical treatment than a child without any disabilities.
… Yes, there are arguments about the quality of life a disabled child can have. The truth, however, is that a congenitally disabled person knows no other existence than that which he or she has: it is others who might deem their lives to be inadequate, not they. When I look at Domenica I see someone with a vast joy in just being alive, and I am indescribably happy that she is.
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December 2nd, 2008 at 6:10 am
Any of us can argue about “quality of life”, whatever that means, but the point is, just because we have an opinion about another’s quality of life, does NOT mean we have the right to take their life away.
My six year old daughter Christina enjoys her life with more gusto than most; every day there are more wonders of nature to be explored,food to taste, music to sing, people to hug, and furry animals to pet. No one in this family has told her that her Trisomy 21 means that her life isn’t worth living. It would come as a complete surprise to her.