Life is an issue that’s close to the heart of Focus on the Family, and Arizona and South Dakota are both advancing bills that are designed to protect preborn babies in the womb with Down syndrome.
In Arizona, the Senate has recently approved a bill that will protect babies with disabilities in a 16-14 party line vote.
It’s possible that as many as 67% or more of babies diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome are aborted, though the U.S. government does not require clinics to keep a record of the reason why women abort their preborn babies. According to parents, it’s become rather common for some in the medical community to portray the condition in the worst possible terms and abortion as the solution. This is despite the incredible advances in the medical treatment and management of the symptoms of Down syndrome.
In fact, many people with the condition live long and healthy lives, get married and hold down jobs.
Acceptance is also growing, as more and more individuals and their families share about what an incredible experience it can be living and growing up with someone who has Down syndrome. There’s even the reality television series “Born This Way,” which followed the lives of seven adults with Down syndrome.
Janet Stafford, a former member of Focus on the Family’s Sanctity team and the mother of child with Down syndrome shared, “It has been a gift and an honor to advocate for Kirsten and all individuals with Down syndrome. I now know the true beauty and value of their lives.”
To families who have received a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, Janet also said, “Congratulations! You are about to experience pure uninhibited love and joy like never before. Your other children will be more kind and thoughtful because of the gift they have in a sibling with Down syndrome. You have just become a part of an extremely supportive community, one that most parents only dream of having. And you will feel closer to your Creator every moment that you look into the eyes of this precious child of yours.”
In addition to protecting preborn babies with Down syndrome, the bill “also protects women by ensuring the abortion pill cannot be sent through the mail, which leaves women to fend for themselves during the painful and dangerous ordeal. The bill also ensures taxpayer dollars will not support entities that promote abortions, and it requires proper treatment of an aborted baby’s remains.” (This mandate would require that remains be cremated or buried.)
In South Dakota, House Bill 1110 has passed both legislative houses and now is on its way to the governor’s office for a signature.
Per the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, “The bill would penalize any physician who performs an abortion knowing the woman seeking it is doing so because of a possible Down syndrome diagnosis based on a screening.”
Fighting for life, especially at the legislative level, is incredibly important. Focus on the Family, as a pro-life ministry, is supportive of many of these measures designed to protect life.
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