Will We Protect the Little Ones?

This is a re-post of this post on the Desiring God ministry blog (thanks, Rebekah!)

Consider the following about babies with Down syndrome:

• Of women who choose to have prenatal testing, approximately 90% of those who discover their child has Down syndrome choose to abort.
• Two companies are racing to provide new prenatal diagnostic tests that could detect Down syndrome as early as the ninth week of pregnancy, without the dangers of current tests.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists expanded the clinical standard of care to include giving all women regardless of age the opportunity for Down syndrome screening.
• We are already seeing a decline in the number of children with Down syndrome being born.
• Women routinely report that doctors paint a negative, inaccurate picture of the quality of lives of children with Down syndrome and their families.

Our Culture Is Against Them

Prenatal tests are not the problem. The problem is the bias of our culture against the lives of little ones born with Down syndrome. Our culture does not think that these littles ones should be given the opportunity to live.
And there is no neutral ground on this issue: you are either doing something to protect the lives of unborn babies with disabilities or you are letting the culture pressure parents about what they "should do."

You Can Help

Developing programs is helpful, but it does not need to be complicated to get started. You can begin by consistently affirming that God is in control and every life matters. Just last week a dad stood up in a seminar and told the group that it was the strong pro-life message of his church that gave him the conviction needed to welcome his unborn child with Down syndrome into his family.
Earlier this year I met a young couple who, radiating the love of Jesus, told us the story of how their small church — less than 100 people — surrounded them with prayer and love and persistent presence when their baby girl with Down syndrome was born.
Church, please, trust God and pursue the good of these little ones, for his glory and for your good. Soak in God’s word and embrace his sovereignty over all things before the challenge comes:

• He knits little babies with genetic anomalies together (Psalm 139:13-16).
• He will never leave us or forsake us; “The Lord is my helper” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
• He will supply every need (Philippians 4:19).
• He is “righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works” (Psalm 145:17).
• He is purposeful in hard things like disability, and that purpose is glorious: For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Resources

For how to talk about disability, abortion, and the sovereignty of God, I recommend Pastor John's sermon, Born Blind for the Glory of God. For an example of how this issue is woven into other topics, see the blog post, The Inevitability of “Gendercide” and Its Other Deadly Effects.