ChristianWeek

TORONTO, ON—Families and advocacy groups for the developmentally disabled are concerned that calls for increased fetal testing will lead to more abortions of Down syndrome babies.

The recommendation, to be published in the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) journal this month, suggests that all expectant mothers should undergo screening for fetal abnormalities. Currently, only pregnant women over the age of 35 are routinely offered such tests.

The recommendation follows a study suggesting amniocentesis—a test that can indicate the presence of Down syndrome and other fetal abnormalities—poses less risk of miscarriage than previously believed.

According to a January article in the National Post, the society decided to issue the recommendation, “so that a greater number of women would have the option to terminate their pregnancies should fetal abnormalities be detected.”

On the heels of the article, the Post published several letters from concerned readers. “I’m not sure what it is about our children that society abhors,” wrote the mother of a 16-year-old son with Down syndrome. “My son is a wonderful human being. Yet he is rapidly becoming an endangered species among the human race.”

Freedom euphemism

“The killing of unborn persons with Down syndrome is eugenicist mass extermination, maliciously disguised under the euphemism freedom of choice,” wrote another.

Days later, the Canadian Down Syndrome Society told the newspaper they will launch a public awareness campaign timed to coincide with the publication of the SOGC recommendation, “out of fears that a new push for fetal screening could one day lead to an entire population being ‘eliminated.’”

Staff at L’Arche—an international organization of faith-based communities that creates homes with people who have developmental disabilities—describe the SOGC recommendation as “troubling.” They say our society is poorer for not valuing the contributions of the intellectually disabled.

“Many people with disabilities have an intelligence of the heart,” says Nathan Ball, executive director of the L’Arche Canada Foundation.

“What we know today is that 75, 80, up to 90 per cent of fetuses that are diagnosed as having Down syndrome are eliminated,” he says. “Of course with the recent recommendation that maternal blood screening be made available [to all expectant women], this number will only rise. As a society, we are embarking on the elimination of one class of society that has a long history of oppression. It is very troubling.”

When asked if he believes every life is worth living, Ball is emphatic.

“Absolutely. We have this unshakable conviction that every life is precious. Every life is an un-repeatable grace. It is our task as a community to welcome one another.”

Ball says part of the solution is for society to embrace those born with differences, to create places of belonging for each and every person.

“I think that if society fully embraced differences, it would put at its highest priority a place of belonging,” he explains. “So for all of these people, my dream is that we would create places of belonging in our schools, churches, sports facilities, etc.”

For more information on L’Arche Canada, see: www.larche.ca

—With files from the National Post and Listen Up TV