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My brother Jakob was born when I was eight years old. He lived for less than two hours.
My mother had undergone prenatal testing before he was born, and these tests suggested that Jakob was going to be born with multiple abnormalities. Her doctors strongly advised an abortion, but my parents flatly refused. Abortion, they knew, was murder – no matter the reason. And there was no question in their minds that God was sending them this particular child for a purpose – that he was fearfully and wonderfully made, and that he had a special mission to fulfill. So we welcomed Jakob into our family, wept when he died, and continue to celebrate his birthday every year.
For over 36 years, Jakob has blessed our family. He is our link to Eternity and to the realm of angels. But over the same 36 years, doctors have continued to promote the use of prenatal testing and "therapy" – that is, abortion – to decrease the number of babies born with birth defects.
Insurance companies now scrutinize tests to identify which are most cost-effective, and public health experts push for expanded access to them. Granted, prenatal testing has its place. It can give parents time to prepare emotionally for the birth of a disabled child, as well to plan for delivery in a center equipped for a high-risk birth. That being said, the most profound effect of prenatal testing has been a staggering increase in the number of genetic abortions – abortions performed because testing has identified a baby as abnormal, deformed, and therefore unwanted.
Studies show that the majority of these abortions are done within 72 hours of testing – hardly enough time for a woman to process the news, let alone receive any sort of counseling. More disturbingly, the same studies show that health care professionals hold more favorable attitudes to genetic abortions than do non-health care professionals, and that up to one-third of women who test "positive" for a birth defect say that they felt pressured by medical personnel into having an abortion.
The birth defect most chillingly affected by prenatal testing has been Down syndrome. Close to 90% of women who find that their unborn baby has Down now choose to have an abortion. At the same time, adoption agencies report lists of over 100 couples at a time, waiting to receive a child with Down syndrome into their homes.
Why the discrepancy? Children with Down syndrome are not "terminal", and their lives are not the disasters contemporary medicine portrays them to be. Down syndrome kids can live at home, attend school, and even enter the work force. They can lead lives no less happy than any other people. I know many of them, and each encounter with them has enriched my life.
Why, then, are they being targeted by the medical establishment for elimination? Some geneticists cite eugenics, glibly stating that Down syndrome "pollutes the gene pool". Another equally grotesque reason given for the "prevention" of Down syndrome is financial. These proponents of abortion weigh the cost of testing and termination against the cost to society of supporting a person with Down syndrome, over an expected lifespan of 40 to 50 years.
The horror does not stop with abortion. A recent article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics states that "post-birth abortion" – an amazing euphemism for infanticide – is acceptable and justified because a newborn infant is not a real person with a moral right to life. The authors use Down syndrome babies as an example of infants who could be euthanized because "such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care." Such ideas are, in fact, reality: in the Netherlands, Down syndrome babies are already routinely left to starve to death.
We dare not point a finger at mothers who consent to genetic abortion without taking a serious look at how our society regards people with disabilities. We have become obsessed with physical perfection and intellectual prowess, and our outlook on life is driven not by compassion but by selfishness and greed. The roots of this evil are in each of our hearts. Where is our reverence for God, the Author and Creator of all life, who never makes a mistake?
Already 2000 years ago, Jesus warned us about such arrogance:
Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven (Matthew 18).
We are now living in a society that not only looks down on "these little ones", but is actively engaged in a mission to destroy them. If we do not protest this evil, we are just as guilty as those who carry it out. Lent is not over yet, and Easter is approaching. There is still time to repent for our sin. May God have mercy on us all.
The writer is a physician assistant who practices in upstate New York.
Candy Lovett
Christa Ebong, I do not think I could have put it as eloquently as you did. I wish more people would learn that all humans have value and purpose in this life no matter how long or short of a time they live and what is wrong with them physically or mentally.....the Bruderhof has taught me some amazing life lessons....Candy
Clare Massey
Thank you for your article. It is so refreshing at a time when society's ideas of perfection are literally being shoved down our throats in so many ways. I personally chose to forego all these tests because the only treatment offered was abortion. I was advised by a midwife that there is no point having them if you won't abort the baby, because of the risks inherent in the test. Also, none of these tests are 100% accurate. A neighbour told me she had been strongly advised to abort a baby with spina bifida, but had refused because of her islamic beliefs. When the baby was born it did not have the condition. Also, some children born with spina bifida have no symptoms and go on to live normal lives. I find this testing an intrusion into a sacred time and space that God provides for us as expectant mothers. Science claims to be God, to have all the answers, but in reality internet forums are full of women stressing about this test and that test, and going back for repeated scans when there is evidence that these scans cause levels of brain damage to the baby, perhaps even creating a problem that did not exist in the first place. To me this is just indicative of separation from God and lack of faith in God. I know you talk about the family having time to adjust but a little baby is a helpless thing whether it is disabled or not and surely the next few years are the time God gives to adjust. In biblical times no one would have dreamt of this, they had so much faith in God. Jesus was born in a stable, not in a hospital attended by obstetric qynacologists with Mary on a pitocin drip and epidural. As crazy as it sounds in this context, I think we need to look at how far modern medicine has taken us away from God. Abortion is a symptom of this, not a cause. Abortion will never be illegal because the pharmaceutical companies rely on the cells to produce their products, in particular for the cheap mass production of vaccines. People who say they are against abortion need to check the products they are using because many of them will contain these cells, or will not have been made without testing on them, and if you are fuelling the trade in these products you are part of the problem, not the solution, whatever you say. We have been tricked into thinking we need all this stuff to survive and be healthy but it's probably the biggest con ever played on humankind: 1. It has recently been in the press that Americans, who spend more per capita than any other country on maternal care have higher maternal death rates than any other western country, and even some third world countries. 2. I refused vaccines for my daughter because of a gut instinct, at first feeling quite scared about what I was doing. Now my doctors surgery, who originally hassled me about these 'missing immunisations', admits she is their only patient who has never needed to take drugs. After researching it I discover that vaccines generally suppress the immune system, as well as attacking the brain with the potential to cause change of personality. What are we doing to our children? And now the single biggest cause of death for children is cancer, is it caused by the mercury, aluminium and retroviruses in the vaccines? 3. It is considered normal for babies to lose weight in the first week after birth. Except for those babies born at home. So for all the money and technology, nothing is better than what God provides. And many people, people of all faiths and actually people that are not religious at all are rejecting these tests because they just go against nature, God's nature, and you don't even have to have read the Bible to realise, in your heart, that something is deeply wrong.
Dan
I have a growing awareness and appreciation for the truth that all life, unborn or otherwise, has value, meaning and purpose. Thank you for being an ongoing and clear voice for that truth.
Don
The devaluing of life in our time is certainly very troubling and can feel overwhelming at times. We should pray not to feel overwhelmed or helpless. These feeling are not from God. Don't at all feel helpless. We must remember how prayer can change all things and we should, collectively, maintain a prayerful life for the good of life. Thank God for people like Christa Ebong who is being guided to speak the truth of her knowledge. Many people know all to well, in the medical field, the atrocities being performed ever day. Let's us all pray for those people to speak thier mind like Christa and let us also pray for all the people who value life, to become more involved in defending life. This war will be won. The mere fact we are writing and talking about the taking of life IS from God. So let us rejoice in the fact we have our Heavenly Family and our faith as fuel to defend life any way we can.