An "Ism" You May Not Know...

Ableism is a set of practices and beliefs that assign inferior value to people who have developmental, emotional, physical or psychiatric disabilities. Those of us who live in the world of special needs know this as a very real danger to our society in the form of eugenics.

A University of North Carolina professor, Albert Harris Ph.D., made this comment in his upper level embryology class: "In my opinion, the moral thing for older mothers to do is to have amniocentesis, as soon during the pregnancy as is safe for the fetus, test whether placental cells have a third chromosome #21, and abort the fetus if it does. The brain is the last organ to become functional."

For those who may not know, he is speaking of unborn babies with Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome.

Unknown to the professor, a young lady with a brother with Down syndrome sat there to angry to speak. However, she found her voice later.

The resulting debate has been quite public and very ugly at times.

The online communities that support individuals and families with children with special needs are up in arms over Professor Harris' comments. The same is true for online pro-life communities.


As a mother of a child with Down syndrome, I am outraged.

The young lady mentioned above, Lara Frame, has created an awareness project. She is looking for short blurbs (250 or so words) on how your child/sibling/familymember/friend/co-worker/ (or
even yourself) with Down Syndrome/disabilities has changed your life. She hopes to use the University Press to get them published and give a copy to Professor Harris. She is also looking for sibling stories.

Thank you, Lara, for speaking up for those with special needs - created in His image - loved and valued by our Creator with a right to life.

If you wish to contribute to Lara's project, let me know and I'll give you the contact information.

A comment from a reader reminded me: "another way you can stand up for unborn babies with Down syndrome is to sign this petition, then on March 21 (Down Syndrome Awareness Day) send the petition to your Congressional representatives and ask them to support the Brownback-Kennedy Prenatally and Postnally Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act."