Thursday, October 23, 2008

From Someone Who Knows

This post came to me from a friend of our family who has the privilege of being the mother of a precious Down Syndrome baby. Read what Karen has to say:

Bradley was born with Down Syndrome. 

He is one of the lucky ones. 

Approximately 90% of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted. 


Barack Obama's response when asked about abortion and when a baby gets human rights:

"Well, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."

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Barack Obama on values and morals:

"I've got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

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In 2001, three bills reached the floor of the Illinois State Senate. 

All three were regarding babies who were born alive after attempted abortions. 

SB1093 said if a doctor performing an abortion believed there was a likelihood the baby would survive, another physician must be present "to assess the child's viability and provide medical care."

SB1094 gave the parents,or a state-appointed guardian, the right to sue to protect the child's rights.

SB1095 said a baby alive after "complete expulsion or extraction from its mother" would be considered a " 'person,' 'human being,' 'child' and 'individual.'

Barack Obama opposed them.

Barack Obama alone spoke against these bills on the floor of the Senate.

He said these children had no constitutional rights. He called them "pre-viable fetuses." To Barack Obama, a living, breathing child can only be called a "person" if his mother isn't in the process of trying to kill him.

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Vote November 4th for hope and change...

but NOT the "Hope" and "Change" Obama promises!

Vote to give hope to the least of us...the most helpless among us...our unborn. 

Vote for a change in the values and morals of our country.

Vote for all the Bradley's who are waiting for a chance at life.


**To read what Erma Bombeck has to say about mother's with disabled children in her story "God Chooses A Mom For A Disabled Child", see this link. 

**To read the speech by Sarah on the McCain Palin commitment to special needs children (given on October 24th), see this link.

9 comments:

Doug McGee said...

More facts for you:
75 percent of fetuses with Trisomy 13 die in utero.
15 percent of those that are born, die within the first year. (A friend's child just lived a week, born 9/29/08 and is one of the true "lucky ones".)
35 percent of the rest die before age 50.
The other majority of the last 50 percent won't see 60.
Major problems:
First and foremost, heart problems.

Second, problems with the digestive system can also be quite dangerous:

Esophageal atresia is where the esophagus doesn't connect to the stomach, but comes to a dead end - so any food eaten cannot be digested.

In transesophageal fistula, the esophagus may connect to the lungs, causing some or all of the food or drink to enter the lungs.

In Hirschsprung disease there is a functional obstruction in the colon, meaning that the solid body wastes cannot be eliminated, or not very well eliminated - again the condition, like the other digestive problems can be quite dangerous.

Duodenal atresia, is another blockage, this time of the small bowel, which prevents the contents of the stomach from emptying out.

Juvenile Leukemia - cancer of the blood or of the organs producing blood - can contribute to mortality.

Studies also link higher IQs (45-70) with the longest life expectancies. The associated health-care is $677,692 in 2005 dollars.
This isn't for a cost/benefit example, but to show the hellish existence they live.
I was a program and healthcare coordinator for several group homes in which resided adults with developmental disabilities in their 20s and 30s. Many were individuals with trisomy 13. They had to schedule activities around doctor's visits, not visa versa.
That poor child I mentioned above was the lucky one.

Rachel Raines said...

I for one will be voting for all the Bradleys of this country! This is an awesome article, and very touching!

Tara McCoy said...

It makes me so sad that babies are treated with no respect. If not careful, any premature baby (under BHO's stand) could be considered a previable fetus (that just makes me sick) and allowed to die whether the child was wanted or not. It hits me hard since my last baby was born premature.
May God spare this country from becoming like Nazi Germany for another season.

Tami said...

So toddpt,

Am I to understand that because these precious ones are born with medical problems they should have been murdered pre-birth or during birth? Is that your assertion?

My mother suffered with rheumatoid arthritis her entire adult life--we didn't cast her aside or murder her when we found out she needed care. No, we loved her, helped her, and when life became too difficult to manage on her own, we managed it for her, loving her each step of the way. Was the health care astronomical? You bet. Was it hard on our family? You bet it was. Would I do it again? A million times over. She was precious in God's eyes, and the eyes of her family and others who loved her. You see, God sees beyond the "defects", and sometimes those "defects" allowed her to reach out and help others that perhaps those of us who weren't suffering could never have reached. She only lived 60 years in her short life, but the lives she touched will forever be grateful for the time God gave her to us. The fact that these precious human beings with Down Syndrome are only with us for 50 or 60 years is no small thing, and it is certainly no reason to give them no chance at all at life.

I've known several other "Bradley's" in my short life. They didn't have a very high I.Q., and they needed care, but let me tell you something. They were some of the most wonderful human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and they may not have had much in the way of "book smarts" but their ability to care for others was something many people never have in life. You see, Todd, life is precious no matter what your I.Q., no matter what your family's financial status is....and character is far more important than those other things.

I hope that you, Todd, never encounter someone like yourself when you reach reach a time in your life of needing assistance. Many who advocate abortion also advocate "People euthanasia". Will you be one of the recipients when you become too difficult for your family to care for? I mean, at least "euthanasia" is supposedly carried out in a humane fashion to make it painless on the adult being killed. At least they won't take an adult sized vacuum and suck your body into it, tearing tissue and limbs from your body, only to be discarded like trash. Or perhaps they will perform the method where you are cut into pieces and scraped off the bed, thrown into the garbage. Or, perhaps they will jam scissors into your skull, expand the skull so that they can then suction your brains out. Perhaps that would be acceptible to you, Todd. These are abortion methods. If they are able to be performed on the most innocent of human beings, then why not allow you to receive this treatment when you are incapable of caring for yourself any longer?

Do you see the inconsistency? We allow these things to be done to those who cannot defend themselves and yet, when a murder is committed--performed in the same fashion-it's described of as horrific. Movies are made depicting things far less inhumane....and yet it's murder then. Men and women are sentenced to die.

My book is finished here....but I must say, Todd, I pity you. I speak, not out of anger. I speak out of passion for those who cannot speak for themselves. I hope that one day you are able to see the Truth for what it really is.

Susy said...

toddpt/tami:

Trisomy 13 (and 18) are much more serious conditions than Down Syndrome, which is Trisomy 21 (in 85% of cases--there are other types of Down Syndrome, but T-21--a "full" trisomy--is the most common and most severe because the extra chromosome is present in ALL organs). That being said, to your point toddpt, most children with Down Syndrome DO survive to birth and for quite sometime thereafter. Most of the problems they do have (most commonly, heart problems) can be permanently eliminated with low-risk surgery. Down Syndrome people also suffer from low muscle tone, which means their caregivers need to exercise their muscles DAILY.

My niece has Down Syndrome. Her parents found out when her mom was 5 mos pregnant with her. At the time, they were told that it appeared there were serious issues with her heart, the kind that can't be treated and would result in her being hooked up to machines for her entire (short) life. Fortunately, they were able to see an excellent pediatric cardiologist who did a very thorough exam via ultrasound and found that her heart was actually fine. So, my niece is now almost 8 years old, and aside from a very scary bout with pneumonia a few years back that nearly killed her, (low muscle tone issue), she's doing great. I have no doubt that this girl will grow up happy and be a productive member of society. She is confident, creative and can read (which is more than can be said for many "normal" kids her age).

That being said....with respect to more serious chromosome abnormalities, like T-18/13, when they are "full" trisomies as 85% of them are, they are pretty much lethal. When I was pregnant with my daughter, we were told she had indications that she might have T-18. My husband and I had decided that if our baby had Down's, we'd proceed with everything as normal. But if she DID have T-18, we would consider terminating if I was able to cope with it (not sure I would have been), not because we didn't want to deal with a terminally ill child, but because of the suffering. A friend of mine gave birth to a baby with T-18 and even with hospice care her life consisted of crying, passing out, waking up, crying, passing out, repeat. She was at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital, one of the top pediatric hospitals in the U.S., and THEY couldn't believe how WELL she was doing. She eventually died by drowning in the fluid in her lungs after 2 months. It was the most horrible thing and I can hardly imagine it...I guess my point here is that termination vs. a very short life with much suffering is almost a toss up. Tami, I know you believe it's God's will and that's fine, but I don't know if I could have the much faith in the face of that much suffering.

Sorry this is so long. I guess my point is that while I personally agree with you about Down Syndrome (and your statistic is correct about how many are terminated), there are other much more serious conditions where the suffering of the baby rivals aborting. I fortunately didn't have to make that choice as my daughter's "abnormality" was a red herring.

Cheryle said...

Your passion is admirable, Tami. There are many, many Downs Syndrome people in my world and, you're right, they are almost always very loving, very kind, and pretty remarkable individuals. My hat is off, as it always has been, to those who care for them, those who love them, and those who give them jobs when they're employable.

Unfortunately not everyone is equipped, financially, emotionally, or physically, to care for a Downs Syndrome child. Perhaps if we had universal health care the financial part would be moot.

I wish no one ever wanted an abortion. I wish no one was ever raped, or victimized by incest. I wish every child was wanted, and healthy, and born into a family with all the resources to care for it. As an alternative, I wish all of those who would deny abortions to women would be willing to step up and adopt these hard to place children and provide emotional support to those who bear them and give them up.

Tami said...

Cheryle,

I know dozens of people right now who would give just about anything to adopt one of those precious little ones and give them a chance at life. That is just an absurd argument--that there is a shortage of people willing to adopt! My own family did it--and MANY I know have done so, but had to go overseas because there is such a shortage of babies here, or the legal system was too hard to get around. The legal system makes it very difficult here...meanwhile, who suffers? The children suffer.

Tami said...

From Bradley's father:

Tami,

Bradley has Trisomy 21. Down syndrome is Trisomy 21, not Trisomy 13. It is a huge debate fallacy to apply the horrors of Trisomy 13 to decisions about Down syndrome individuals. It's the typical liberal argument though; they claim that the lives of the Down syndrome individuals are so horrible that we are kind to abort them. Then they imply that their lives are not worth the financial burden; so now we are expected to start placing a dollar figure on the value of an individual human life.

Another thought; I dare say that Bradley is already living a happier, fuller, more fulfilling life than toddpt is living. Were they ever to meet, Bradley would automatically love toddpt unconditionally. All of us need these individuals in our world to teach us to get our own priorities right. Bradley is making better people of everybody in our family.

One reason that we support Sarah Palin, and the whole Palin family, is that we would love to see Trig Palin grow up in the public eye, and we would love for the world to see his life as a beautiful thing. Perhaps just a few attitudes would start to change, and then we could significantly reduce the number of children who are aborted simply because they are mentally retarded!

Dan

Dana said...

He is a gorgeous baby and worthy of the best life possible as are all children. My niece just turned one and she was born with down syndrome to a 17 year old un-wed mother and doing great!