This 16th century Dutch painting appears to depict the angel next to Mary as having Down's syndrome. Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
By Antonia Tully
Christmas is a special time for us in the pro-life movement. The Christ Child, innocent, weak and defenceless, speaks powerfully to us as we work to protect every unborn child.
And surely disabled unborn babies who cry out for special protection on our part are the weakest and most vulnerable of all.
Our country only pays lip service to the rights of people with disabilities. No amount of wheelchair access can disguise the heartless attitude towards disabled people deeply embedded in our society. And nowhere is this callous attitude more manifest than in our Parliament and state institutions.
Care for the helpless?
A few weeks ago two pro-life MPs tabled a series of probing Parliamentary Questions about abortion for disability. The government’s responses were shocking, It transpires that the government does not collect any information about how many unborn babies are diagnosed with a disability and then born without that disability. It further transpires that the government does not record information about whether babies aborted because they are disabled have a condition which is rectifiable. The government is simply not interested in unborn babies with disabilities.
Joy to the world
SPUC member Jane Villalobos says: "It is difficult to understand governmental indifference towards statistics on abortion for reasons of disability. My husband and I adopted our son Damian, now aged 35, when we were still in our twenties, from a position of almost complete ignorance of the world of disability. Damian has Down's syndrome and is quite severely affected but his positive, funny, endearing character has brought us such happiness over the years. He has been the best of sons."
The joy of those parents who choose life for their unborn disabled babies can be seen in this short video which helps to take us to the heart of the Christmas message:
This Christmas, as we sing the words "He was little, weak and helpless", let us remember the very weakest unborn babies.
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