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Studies have shown that a shocking number of children diagnosed with Down Syndrome are being aborted. If anyone out there wants to preach a pro-life message from the pulpit, here’s one that is often overlooked. Attention must be paid. Despite what some may think, these lives have value and meaning—and these children are loved.
From Tony Rossi of The Christophers:
“Love doesn’t die.” That’s a quote from a letter we received at Christopher headquarters recently from a woman named Jean, and the story she told is one I’d like to share with you. Jean is a longtime supporter of The Christophers, who found inspiration in our Christopher News Notes. She often quoted them in letters she would write to the sick members of her parish in order to lift their spirits. Today, Jean is living in a retirement facility herself, but she still keeps a stack of News Notes on hand. Her letter to us was prompted by a recent correspondence we sent her mentioning children with Down Syndrome. That’s a topic she knows first-hand, so she decided to tell us about her experience. In 1950, at age 22, Jean gave birth to Susan, the first of her five children. But she heard the doctor and nurses speaking quietly and sadly, and she wasn’t allowed to see her daughter. The doctor soon told her that Susan was “a Mongoloid,” the term that was used “before Dr. Down found the cause, an extra chromosome.” Jean recalled, “My husband and I were told to place her in a state institution and tell everyone she died at birth. Days went by and social workers visited me trying to make my husband and I follow the doctor’s orders. The final straw was when they said, ‘Bringing her home would be an injustice to your neighbors, as she will lower the property value on your street.’ My husband and I shed tears and we shared our feelings that this baby was given to us by God, we could not throw her out! We asked my husband’s brother, Father Raymond Rolf—a diocesan priest, what we should do. He went in search of an answer and came back with good news.”
And remember, please, to keep these children and their families in your prayers.
And today we celebrate...
