Thursday, March 3, 2016

Father Says Having a Child With Down Syndrome is the “Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me”

Father Says Having a Child With Down Syndrome is the “Best Thing to Ever Happen to Me”

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Robb Scott wants other people to realize that his son with Down syndrome is just as valuable a person as anyone else.

So, when he overheard another father tell his young son that Down syndrome is an illness of “not knowing anything,” Scott was moved to respond. He created a video message about his experiences with his son and explained why “Down syndrome is literally one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened” in his life.

According to ABC News, Scott lives in Truro, Nova Scotia with family, including his 5-year-old son, Turner, who has Down syndrome. The father said he was shopping one day when he overheard another father and his young son looking at movies. When the boy picked out a movie with a character who had Down syndrome, he asked his father, “What is Down syndrome?”
Scott said the father hesitated at first, then he told his son that it was “an illness” of “not knowing anything.” Though the father’s words were not malicious, Scott said they upset him a lot. Scott said he wanted to talk to the man and his son, but instead he left the store. In the car, Scott said he began to regret not taking the opportunity to talk to the family about Down syndrome. He decided to record a video on his smartphone to share what he was thinking.
“This child was genuinely asking, ‘What’s Down syndrome?’ — and this child is a blank slate,” Scott said in the video. “I let him understand it for something it wasn’t. I let his father define it for him and that hit me hard. This was a child — a child that’s my sons age; and I could’ve corrected him, not in a rude way, and I didn’t.”
“Down syndrome is literally one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened in my life,” he continued. “It’s fun, it’s brilliant, it’s amazing, it’s funny, it’s kind, it’s loving, it’s cuddly.”
Scott posted the short video to his Facebook page, hoping that a few people would watch it and gain a better understanding of the value of people with conditions like Down Syndrome.
“I believe people are teachers and learners,” he said in the video. “We’re both. We have the ability to teach things, and we’re here to learn things. A well-educated man does not have more to teach than my son. He has different things to teach, but he does not have more to teach.”
Down syndrome is “the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.
Since posting the video, it has been viewed at least 1.5 million times, according to the Washington Post.
Misconceptions about conditions like Down syndrome are still pervasive in society; but because of beautiful videos like this, along with the work of pro-lifers and disability rights advocates, more people are recognizing that, no matter what a person’s abilities, every life is valuable.

Watch the video here:
http://www.lifenews.com/2016/02/26/why-this-father-says-having-a-child-with-down-syndrome-is-the-best-thing-to-ever-happen-to-me/ 


Canadian gvmt panel pushing the ‘near-worst-case scenario’: wide-open euthanasia, even for kids 


OTTAWA, February 26, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The federal committee for euthanasia and assisted suicide has released recommendations that, if adopted, will allow “wide-open euthanasia” and “wide-open abuse” of vulnerable Canadians, says executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
“We haven’t seen what the bill’s going to say,”  Alex Schadenberg told LifeSiteNews, “but we see the recommendations, and basically it’s a wide-open model with very little clear defining controls.”
“It’s a near-worst case scenario.”
The all-party committee of 11 MPs and five senators was tasked with providing a framework for a new law after the Supreme Court struck down the existing Criminal Code prohibition against assisted suicide and euthanasia in February 2015, a ruling that takes effect June 6.
After hearing from 61 witnesses and reviewing over 100 written briefs, the committee released 21 recommendations on February 25 to regulate what it calls “MAID” — medical assistance in dying.
But four of the committee’s MPs, Conservatives Mark Warawa, Michael Cooper, Gerard Deltell, and Harold Albrecht, opposed the recommendations, stating in a dissenting report that there needs to be better safeguards for vulnerable people.
And Schadenberg also denounced the committee’s report as “very bad.”
The committee effectively ignored conscience rights by recommending that publicly funded healthcare institutions be mandated to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide, and that objecting doctors must “at minimum” provide their patients with an “effective referral.” (See story here.)
It also recommends that nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as doctors, be called upon to euthanize their patients, or assist them in committing suicide.
But the report also suggests that children, or “mature minors,” be eligible for euthanasia in the second of a recommended two-stage legislative rollout over two to three years.
“The crazy thing about that is, how do you define a ‘mature minor’?” Schadenberg asked. “It’s based on the doctor assessing you, and say, ‘oh, so and so’s mature’.”
He excoriated the committee’s recommendation that mental illness, including treatable depression, could be the sole determinant for eligibility for euthanasia or assisted suicide.
Recommendation 4 notes that “physical or psychological suffering that is enduring and intolerable to the person in the circumstances of his or her condition should be recognized as a criterion to access medical assistance in dying.”
“This is mental suffering alone, and you cannot define psychological suffering,” he noted.
And there’s no effective oversight of doctors under the committee’s proposed scheme, Schadenberg pointed out.
The report recommends “exactly the same system as in Belgium and the Netherlands, that is, two doctors decide, and then after the two doctors decide, one of them kills you, and after you’re dead, the doctor sends in the report.”
“There is no third-party oversight, none,” Schadenberg stressed, adding that the only person who can report that something went wrong “is dead.”
He also criticized the committee’s recommendations for advance directives, which he described as “fairly wide open,” and of particular risk to patients diagnosed with such conditions as dementia or Alzheimer’s and who are extremely fearful of the future.
The report recommends two conditions be met in order for an advance directive for euthanasia or assisted suicide to be valid: “You must know what you have, and you must make the decision in your advance directive when you’re still competent.”
And when a patient has been deemed incompetent — and that is “legally,” not physically incompetent, Schadenberg noted — “you can’t change your mind, and your family can’t protect you.”
The EPC is not against advance directives on principle, but that they can be abused, he said. “You need to have an advance directive that clearly defines the question.”
Schadenberg also pointed out that “one of the greatest problems with the Supreme Court decision was the lack of definition” of the terms.
But while the committee sets forth a number of definitions, it concludes that a new law need not define the terms related to “medical assistance in dying.”
It recommended that assisted suicide or euthanasia “be available to individuals with terminal and non-terminal grievous and irremediable medical conditions that cause enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual in the circumstances of his or her condition.”
Schadenberg also decried the committee’s recommendation that doctors opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide must give patients an “effective” referral, and that publicly funded healthcare institutions must provide euthanasia and assisted suicide.
“It’s all pretty bad. It’s basically forcing this upon Canada,” he told LifeSiteNews.

Police Find Holes in Abortion Clinic Where the Bones of Dozens of Aborted Babies Were Buried

Police made a horrific discovery at two illegal abortion clinics in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta this week. After shutting down the abortion clinics Wednesday, Jakarta Police reported discovering the bones of aborted babies thrown into holes inside the clinics.

Police told the Jakarta Post they found 10 to 15 individual aborted babies’ bones in each hole. They estimated the aborted babies were at least three months gestation, according to the report.
In addition, police said they found unsanitary medical tools, expired medication and reports of women being injured. The authorities said they also discovered a series of text messages between the abortionists and a person believed to be a woman who was six months pregnant, haggling about the cost of the abortion.
Several suspects in custody have been charged with violating the country’s abortion laws, according the report. Police said one of the abortionists was a fake doctor who had a junior high school education. Abortion is illegal in the southern Asian nation, except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.
Jakarta Police Environment Division Chief Sr. Adj. Cmr. Adi Vivid said middle men also were working with the abortion clinics to bring in more patients. According to the report:
The middle-men receive around Rp 500,000 ($50) for each patient.
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Before accepting potential patients, clinics screen them by inviting them to a meeting first. At the meeting, clinic officials determines whether the patient is genuine and needs their service or not, Adi said.
Police also found a number of complaints from the patients to the clinic through text messages, including one patient complaining about bleeding after the abortion.
“The patients are afraid to report their complaints to police because they know that their acts are in violation of the law,” Adi added.
Adi said police also are investigating four other abortion clinics in the city that may be doing illegal abortions.
The case is disturbingly similar to the gruesome Kermit Gosnell abortion clinic in Philadelphia, where authorities discovered aborted babies stored in the freezer and in jars on shelves, illegal late-term abortions and untrained and unlicensed staff.


She Was on the Table Prepped for the Abortion and Had an IV, Then She Changed Her Mind

Happy Monday! As the work week begins, here are some nuggets of good news to show you what God is doing in response to your prayer and fasting.

So far during this campaign, our local leaders report that… 121 babies have been saved from abortion (that we know of)!
That may seem like just a number. But each number represents a living human being, each of whom is now part of a story about the impact of prayer …. and God’s inspiration.
Pomona, California
A woman walked up to a couple of the people praying outside the Planned Parenthood abortion center and told an amazing story. “I just want to tell you that what you’re doing is not in vain,” she said.
The 40 Days for Life vigil was in progress when she arrived for her abortion appointment. She’s married and has five children – the youngest is a one-year-old. Her husband was totally against the abortion … but she refused to consider calling it off. He eventually gave in … and accompanied her to Planned Parenthood.
She went on to tell the volunteers that she was being prepped for the abortion … and the staff had already started an IV. It was at that moment she decided she could not go through with it!

“When the couple was leaving, the husband was all smiles and waving,” said one of the vigil leaders. “What an uplifting story! Praise the Lord!”
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Volunteers in Philadelphia called it “a blessing in a blizzard.” Well, it wasn’t so much a blizzard as it was an unexpected snowfall in the early morning hours. But it was enough to delay a young woman on her way to the abortion center.
Vigil participants, a pastor and a friend had encouraged her to reject abortion. But she got up that morning and headed to the appointment.
With the snow covering the roads, however, traffic was at a standstill. “That pause gave her a chance to digest and choose to turn around and return home,” Monique, the local leader, said. “That was when she decided to keep the baby.”
She said it was an example of “divine intervention in this crazy, out-of-the-blue, one-hour, completely unexpected snowstorm. And that beautiful girl and her child have been so blessed! Thank you for your prayers, my friends. Every single moment of prayer makes such a difference!”
Charleston, South Carolina
One of the counselors outside the abortion facility was able to catch a young woman as she and a companion were driving out.
The volunteer asked them to pull across the street – first of all, they didn’t want to block the driveway. But they also wanted to avoid the abortion center’s staff member, who started yelling at them.
The woman said she was advised to have an abortion because of medical issues. The counselor listened with concern, but also told her about life-affirming medical assistance that could help her and her baby through the pregnancy.
That eased her mind considerably, as she was both relieved and excited to receive the information.
“All glory to God!” said one of the Charleston team members. “Another precious baby’s life was saved!”


Blogger Celebrates Her “Awesome” Abortion: “It Was a Joyful Experience”

Kristen Brown illustrates article with images of smiley faces and champagne bottles


Whatever your views on abortion, celebrating the act of ending a human life as “joyful” and “awesome” is completely vile.
But that’s what left-wing blogger Kristen V. Brown felt the need to do in the latest example of how liberals are attempting to turn what should be a sobering decision into a cause for jubilation.
Entitled I had an abortion and it was a totally joyful experience, the article, posted on Fusion.net, was illustrated with an image of smiley face emoticons, party paraphernalia and champagne bottles.
To cut a long and sordid story short, Brown was dating a man who she lost interest in after he “bought a house and a puppy and made clear that he was rapidly heading toward settling down.”
However, being the class act that she is, Brown met up with the man weeks later and ended up having drunken sex without him using a condom.

The very next day, Brown, “Made an appointment for an STD test, blocked his number, unfriended him on Facebook, and sincerely hoped to never see him again.”
After she visited Planned Parenthood and had the abortion, “everything was fine again”.
“I felt powerful, as if there were no obstacle I couldn’t surmount. I felt a deep sense of freedom, knowing that my only responsibility was to myself. I was overcome with gratitude and optimism and a new-found sense of control. I felt awesome,” she writes.
Brown goes on to assail pro-lifers who insist that abortion shouldn’t be treated as a “joyful experience,” writing that her decision to terminate the baby was “just a relief,” and that the abortion, “allowed me to pursue the life I wanted, and to become the person that I wanted to be”.
“I wouldn’t call that dark or painful. Actually, I think I would call it a joy,” she concludes.
As we’ve previously highlighted, leftists have exemplified their total disregard for human life by abandoning pro-abortion arguments on the basis of women’s rights in favor of glorifying what should be treated as a somber procedure.

Back in 2014, a counselor at a New Jersey abortion clinic celebrated her own abortion by posting it on YouTube in order to treasure her “special memory”.
Earlier that year, the D.C. Abortion Fund (DCAF), an organization that helps poor women pay for abortions, caused controversy by offering a ‘coat hanger’ pendant to contributors who donate $10 or more a month for women in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia to terminate their pregnancies.
In 2004, abortion advocate and author Jennifer Baumgardner launched the “I Had an Abortion” project in order to encourage women who had terminated pregnancies to embrace their decision. In a promotional stunt for the campaign, feminist Gloria Steinem wore a t-shirt which read, “I had an abortion” while adopting a smiling, celebratory pose.


In 2013, footage was released of abortion advocates chanting “Hail Satan” in unison at the Texas State Capitol building during a pro-life gathering.


  Arguing that the termination of a human life is a “joyful” and “empowering” thing is just demented.

 

Mom defends aborting because baby had Down’s: says it was ‘best’ for the baby 

 Babies with Down syndrome are aborted at an alarming rate, and too often, the decision is framed as one of “mercy.” Children with Down syndrome are suffering, their lives are too hard, they’ll be a burden to their family, so the best and kindest thing to do for them is… to kill them? Obviously, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but the argument nevertheless gets made. And so says Sophie Horan, a woman who writes about how she decided to kill her preborn daughter, purely because she had Down syndrome.

Eight weeks on, we were still so blissfully happy that we hadn’t yet discussed having a CVS or amnio. We were too busy pouring over the four sonograms of our little baby. In just over two months, we’d watched him or her morph from a bean-shaped embryo into a little human being with a face and arms and legs — fingers and toes, too.
… When I broke the news to my husband, he immediately began searching for “raising a Down Syndrome child” online. My heart broke. A few days earlier, he was the happiest I’d ever seen him, his hands cradling my tummy while we danced at a concert. How was I going to tell him that, should the CVS confirm our worst fears, I didn’t want to keep the baby? My child deserved better than a life of struggle and frustration due to a condition that he or she would never be able to change. Plus, there was no predicting the severity of the disorder — some children with Down Syndrome are able to feed themselves and attend school; others require more urgent and consistent care. Knowing that my husband and I wouldn’t live long enough to provide the necessary long-term care for our child was stressful, to say the least. I did not want him or her to ever feel lonely, lack independence, or be confined to a nursing home when we passed on.
“Do you remember the people who live in Nana’s nursing home — the ones who aren’t elderly?” I tried explaining to my husband. Mostly they just sat in their wheel chairs, staring into space. “No one comes to visit them,” Nana had said, adding that most had older parents who’d already passed on. My husband listened, then resumed his search.
… Only then, after I’d gotten to know my baby as well as I possibly could, did I feel I was ready to make the hardest decision of my life — terminate the pregnancy. And I would make it as a mother who wanted to do the best for her child.
Can we just get one thing straight? These people don’t abort their children with Down syndrome out of kindness or mercy or love. It is never the merciful or loving thing to do to deprive someone of life because they don’t meet some arbitrary standard of perfection being forced onto them by their parents. People choose to do this because they don’t want to deal with the inconvenience of a child with special needs, because the thought of a child requiring a little extra work than a “normal” child is abhorrent. They do it because they can’t let go of ignorance and of outdated stereotypes.
There are not, for example, “degrees” of Down syndrome. There is no spectrum. Like literally every single other child on the planet, children with Down syndrome have varying abilities and needs. It is not some kind of rarity for children with Down syndrome to be able to feed themselves and go to school — that is actually massively insulting, especially in this day and age when people with Down syndrome go to college, hold jobs, even own their own businesses. They are not blibbering idiots, sitting in their wheelchairs as they drool, staring vacantly into space.

 These things, these reasons given for ending a preborn child’s life, are not accurate. They are stereotypes, and outdated, false ones at that. But even if that wasn’t the case, it still isn’t an argument to kill someone. Why does this woman get to decide when a person’s life suddenly becomes worth living… or when it isn’t? Why do we get to play God? No matter what kind of disability a person may have, they still have inherent worth and dignity. If she had a two-year-old who was in a car accident and became seriously disabled, would she kill that child, too?
Meanwhile, in Down syndrome reality, 99% of people with Down syndrome report being happy with their lives and who they are. Over 90% of parents say that they love their child with Down syndrome and have a more positive outlook; over 90% of siblings say that their sibling with Down syndrome has made them a better person. She says her child deserved “better than that” — better than what, exactly? A life filled with positivity and love and happiness?
There is nothing kind or merciful about robbing a child of life because they have an extra chromosome, and the facts do not back up the stereotypes that this woman killed for. The mythical life of struggles and frustration do not exist. They are excuses made to defend the decision to take the life of a preborn child.
The fact is, if these parents truly loved their children, they would not have robbed them of their lives, simply because they had an extra chromosome.
   
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