Will You Be Testing?

Posted on April 24, 2009 
Filed Under Focus on the Family Broadcast, Life, Parenting, Personal

If you are pregnant, or think you will be in the next few years, will you be relying on testing to determine if your child might have a handicap? If you do have such screening, to what end?

In recent days news of a new test for Down syndrome have caused some to question how helpful such tests might be for expectant parents.

Doctors recommend that all pregnant women be offered screening for Down syndrome, and about half of women undergo the tests. But the current tests often produce confusing, ambiguous results, unnecessarily alarming couples or falsely reassuring them. The new tests are designed to offer more definitive results early in the pregnancy.

Again, I’ll ask: to what end? If you are pregnant, what will you decide to do if your pre-born child likely has Down syndrome or some other disability?

Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, has a long history of speaking up for the value of life – all life – and has often invited guests to join him on his daily radio program to discuss the unique qualities of their special needs children. About two months ago, Coach Gene Stallings shared about his son, Johnny, who had Down syndrome, and who touched thousands and thousands of people with his life. In that touching interview, Dr. Dobson noted that some 90% of children who are diagnosed before birth with Down syndrome are aborted, and that we are seeing fewer and fewer children with this disability in our culture because of such testing and a lack of respect for babies who aren’t considered “normal.”

Lest I come across as harsh, let me divulge that my wife and I have a special needs child. He doesn’t have Down syndrome, but I know a bit about the challenges families face when a child needs extraordinary care. So I am not trying to be harsh when I say that I hope expectant parents will refuse the types of tests mentioned earlier. I don’t see anything valuable to come of the information a couple might learn from such screenings. That little life has every right to be born and to be cared for, regardless of his or her physical condition or mental capabilities.

So, will you be taking any tests?

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