Life- priceless

Today is World Down Syndrome Day. I saw yesterday that a friend whose darling daughter has DS posted on it. Then another friend mentioned it today. It just so happens that a blog I read posted about this....


Jury awards couple 3 million dollars for "wrongful birth". Frankly, I became physically sick.
 
First I should say that I am beyond a shadow of a doubt pro-life. There are subjects that a lot of conservative Christians and I part ways on. But not this one. I am currently pregnant with my 5th miracle. HE kicks, hiccups, LIVES within me. No one can tell me that this little one does not have a purpose and a plan. No one can tell me that he is a mistake. He is my responsibility to care for until he is able to care for himself. But I feel this way about all of my children. This is not a "my body" issue. This is a child issue.

But this? Suing a doctor because had you known you would have aborted this child. This child who you now claim to love, but put your hand on a bible and then say but my life would be better off without you. Better off if we could have ended your life. It would have been cheaper. It would have caused less stress. BECAUSE you are worried "of the challenges of raising a special-needs child, including concerns about her health, her ability to communicate and whether she'll get the attention she needs once she starts public-school kindergarten in the fall."
 
Here is my question to you...and what is the alternative? oh yes. That is right. DEATH. You worry about all the struggles your daughter will face. So demand a doctor to pay you 3 million dollars because she was WRONGFULLY BORN.
 
I am sick. This is what we have come to. This is who we are. This is ok? Take an innocent child's life because they do not live up to the expectations you have placed before them? Terminate a life? When did it become ok for men to play God? We decided who gets to live and who has to die? Well, I guess I never fall on the wrong side of the curve. What if someday I outlive my welcome. What if I can no longer care for myself? Someone has to feed me, change me, and even help me function with meds? Should I be dead? Will they take me to a little room for me to end it all because my life is not seemed worthy enough for some?
 
I have spoken before about being a summer camp counselor for two summers. While I loved each week I spent there, my favorite and most life changing weeks were spent at Discovery Camp. I met Steve there. Discovery Camp is a camp for special needs adults. Steve was an adult living with Downs Syndrome. Man, did I love Steve. It could have been because the first time he met me he told me I reminded him of Princess Cleopatra and then called me that everytime I saw him. It could be because his hugs were the best I ever have received. He sang with his whole heart, loved with everything he had, and made me laugh all week long. One night I saw him holding the hand of another camper who was scared of being away from her family. I heard tell her how much God loved her but it was still ok to be scared. You know what I learned that week. That Steve was one of the best people to ever walk into my life. How dare someone, especially a set of parents, act as if his life is less worthy.
 
I can't express how much respect and honor I give to parents with these special little angels. All of the parents on the front lines loving these children with all of their special needs. I have been so touched by parents who see this little person, this little life as a gift. I have not walked in their shoes. But I know what life is. All life is valuable. All life is priceless. I pray that this little girl never knows why her parents bank account has swelled.

To all of my friends and family who do hug, love, and treat these angels with the respect they deserve, I thank you. I thank-you for shining in the darkness. For being my hope in this sometimes dreary and sin filled world. You have all of my respect and admiration. And your little ones have my heart.

 
"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb" Psalm 139:19