OSLO, Norway, March 4, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the first time in Norway’s 13 years of official record keeping, the number of children destroyed by abortion because of a Down syndrome diagnosis has surpassed the number of children being born with Down syndrome, newly released figures from the country’s Medical Birth Registry reveal.
Records in 2012 — the most current year for which numbers exist — show that of 118 unborn children diagnosed with the syndrome with its trademark extra copy of chromosome 21, 69 were destroyed by abortion (58 percent), 49 were born (41 percent), and 3 were stillborn, reports Dagsavisen.
In every other year going back to 1999, the number of births of children diagnosed with Down syndrome has outweighed the number of those aborted after a Down syndrome diagnosis.
For instance in 2009 there were 124 unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome: 40 were aborted (32 percent), 82 were born (66 percent), and 2 were stillborn.
With its 2012 numbers, Norway approaches a worldwide trend where an estimated 90 percent of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome are destroyed by abortion.
Studies show many women are simply uninformed when they receive a prenatal test indicating that their child has Down syndrome. Many feel that they have no choice but to abort when the medical profession by and large puts forward ‘termination’ as the best of possible solutions.
But research in 2011 shows that 99 percent of those living with Down syndrome report being happy with themselves, their lives, and how they look. And a staggering 97 percent of families who have children with chromosomal abnormalities report that these children “enriched their lives,” irrespective of the length of their lives. Ninety-four percent of older siblings express feelings of pride for their brother or sister with Down syndrome.
People are beginning to see that those with an extra chromosome are as much part of the human family as everyone else, and even have something extra special to offer the world.
Andrew Jernigan realized his brother Robbie with Down syndrome was “by far the most incredible person on earth” after witnessing his brother’s power to overcome all odds. “I wouldn’t trade Robbie for anyone in the entire world. He’s tough, yet fragile. He's everything I wish to be someday. He's superman,” Jernigan wrote.
Author Sherry Boas has written a series of books based on her real life experiences with her adopted daughter Teresa conceived in rape and born with Down syndrome. The Lily trilogy showcases the history of a somewhat dysfunctional family who are all transformed in one way or another by the sweet and gentle innocence of Lily, the Down syndrome child. Throughout the novels, Lily’s presence transforms broken and hurt people in unsuspecting ways, adding credibility to Mother Teresa naming such people “professors of love.”
The fashion world is beginning to realize that people with Down syndrome are unique. Target and Nordstrom received praise from disability rights advocates in 2012 for using a child with Down syndrome to model clothes.
In 2011 a little girl named Taya became the ‘darling’ of the child-modeling world. “Taya is an incredibly photogenic, warm and smiley child, and that shines through in her photographs,” stated the owner of a modeling company at that time.
Last year over a thousand people offered to adopt an unborn baby with Down syndrome after the mother admitted to a Catholic priest that she was considering abortion. The priest told the mother that if she delivered the baby, he would find an adoptive family. The priest’s appeal for help on social media rocketed around the world, producing an astounding outpouring of love and compassion.
Despite Down syndrome children proving they are a force for good in the world, a new method for screening unborn children the chromosomal abnormality is being developed that bioethicist Wesley J. Smith says will only help further the eugenic targeting of disabled children. The new blood test method is being touted as ten times more accurate than current methods.
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day.