Early last month L'Osservatore Romano ran an editorial analysis of the now routine practice of eugenic abortions entitled 'Destruction of the imperfect'.After more than 30 years working in the pro-life movement I continue to be horrified by the seemingly endless destruction of human life, as highlighted by Carlo Bellieni (pictured) in the aforementioned article:
"The facts are important. The registry of congenital malformations of Emilia Romagna – among the few available Italian sources – reveals that the rate of abortion of fetuses with Down Syndrome is above 60% above the total (and more than 70% in Italian women); more than 50% of girls with Turner Syndrome (resulting in shortness and low fertility) are aborted. The first case involves delayed intellectual development and the second delays physical development: reason enough to destroy them?
Eurocat, a European register, shows that in cases of orofacial clefts – an opening of the lip or palate, a mild and operable condition – the abortion rate is more than 10%. In France, 96% of fetuses with Down Syndrome are aborted and recently a Parisian Deputy in Parliament declared: “The real question I ask myself is why is there still 4%?”. In 1996 the magazine “Archives de Pédiatrie” launched an j’accuse against prenatal elimination of fetuses on the base of future shortness, this characteristic also dramatically decreased from the social panorama and certainly not because a cure was found."The Parisian politician quoted above is not alone in seemingly disdaining children with disabilities. Last week at the meeting of a pro-abortion coalition group in London, Marge Berer, editor of the pro-abortion journal Reproductive Health Matters, described British abortion law as among the best in the world, in part because it allows for abortion on the grounds of foetal abnormalities. In fact on this ground women in Britain can access abortions up to birth. Marge Berer later bemoaned that the abortion industry was finding it difficult to find abortionists in Spain who are prepared to carry out abortions after 24 weeks due to the ongoing trial of a late-term abortionist.
Alison Davis, leader of No Less Human a group within SPUC, has sent me her response to the L'Osservatore Romano article. Alison says:
"This article visits the now familiar story of the attempts by Governments all over the developed world to wipe out disability by 'weeding out' (sic) those who have it. It correctly points out that disabled people themselves (a survey of Italian people with spina bifida is cited) say that their 'quality of life' is high - often higher than those who have no obvious disability. The reason for the 'wiping out' programme can only be economic; the fact that killing us ultimately costs less than treating us.
The article ends by calling for 'solidarity' with sick and disabled people who are being eradicated by abortion. This takes me back to 1985 when I attended a conference in Chicago, travelling alone. I was waiting at the taxi rank, and the driver of first taxi that pulled up refused to take me, saying it would take extra time to load my wheelchair, a task for which he could not charge. He looked at the next-in-line, a young black couple. They spoke together for a second then the man said to the taxi driver: 'You don't take her, you don't take us. Solidarity makes sense.' It does indeed, which is why disabled people should be entitled to be a part of society rather than routinely 'weeded out'.
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy
