The Doctor’s Appointment

As a single Christian woman, I had no intention of becoming pregnant, but this hadn’t seemed to deter my physician’s conclusion that I should have a baby. 

“I wouldn’t let age be a factor in determining whether or not you try to get pregnant.”  The doctor was smiling encouragingly at me.  “Almost all congenital birth defects can be detected through tests now,” she continued. 

I prayed that she wouldn’t say another word, but of course she did. “Pregnancies can be ended before a live birth.” 

I felt the bile rise in my stomach. Had she not heard me five minutes earlier when I’d said I have a brother with Down Syndrome?  Did she have any idea how her words struck me harder than if someone had physically slapped me across the face.  I wanted to cry and vomit at the same time.

Maybe it was my hands flying up to my chest in an unconscious effort to protect my heart, or the sharp intake of breath accompanied by my downcast eyes that clued her in to the fact that I was not one to consider abortion an option.

“Of course many people decide to keep their Down’s babies and do fine.  They can be happy people,” her voice trailed off as she watched my hands twist, fold and unfold in agitation.

When I made it out to my car, I sat with my head leaned up against the steering wheel and let the tears trickle through my fingers.  Over the next several days I pondered that dreadful doctor’s visit.  With increasing frequency I encounter this mindset that some people aren’t really people.  Statistics scream their support in this area.  92% of all Down’s babies are never born – staggering isn’t it?  The first time I read the figure, I was certain it was a mistake.  I searched for a different number, but all of the studies agreed.  At first anger consumed me.  Then I began to realize that many people have bought into the huge deception of evolution.  Since humans have evidently evolved from animals, any person who doesn’t fit our picture of perfection should probably be eliminated so that they don’t take us backwards in the chain of development.  Unfortunately, when man begins to determine who is of value and who is not, we end up with holocausts and genocides.

If people don’t understand how God values each person, how much He, our very creator, loves each and every one of us, can they understand their own value. What a tremendous affront to God for man to imply that He didn’t know what He was doing when Down Syndrome babies were created.

I do have a different perspective from most people.  My brother, Berkeley, who has Down Syndrome, is loved by scores of people.  He is an inspiration to all who meet him, not because he is smart or talented but because he accepts all people regardless of their age, color, talent or beauty.  He is a little picture of how God loves each one of us.  I’ve watched as people line up to receive a hug from him and eyes brighten when he shakes their hands.

Abortion will never cease to anger me, but a portion of me now pities those who promote it.  Do they live in fear that at some point their body won’t live up to the standard of society?  Have they ever wondered what will become of them if they are maimed in an accident or worse yet develop a mental disorder?  If we cannot value what God deems important, how can we ever find value in our own imperfect bodies?

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