Editor: As parents of six children, my wife and I have had many a prenatal visit to assess the progress in development of our pre-born child.
It is commonly understood that if, during prenatal testing, it is determined that the child has either a physical or mental handicap, they are better off aborted. To accept that someone is better off dead, a person must also accept that certain people are less valuable than others and their lives are not worth living; that society would be better off without them.
This amounts to nothing short of a serious act of discrimination against people with disabilities. Abortions carried out because of perceived disabilities deprive the world of unique and precious individuals.
When a woman discovers that her child in the womb will face exceptional challenges, she will have many questions. Instead of encouraging her to end the life of her child through abortion, she should be surrounded with supportive measures and assistance to enable her to provide the special care required for her child when it is born.
Attempts to create a perfect society by destroying those who are less than perfect leaves all of us vulnerable — because we are not perfect. We need to pursue medical solutions to help those with unique challenges, not abort them based on eugenics.
Mike Schouten,
Cloverdale