So Thats It Then? Money And Vanity?

As I sat and read Minette Marrin's article "Parents of a Down's child must make painful choices" I was initially enraged. I mean this woman is talking about me, my son, little Umar and I was angered. How dare she label Umar damaged? Or consider our family damaged simply because Umar has Down Syndrome? How can a seemingly educated individual really make such a comment about a fellow human being?



My anger dissipated a bit as I allowed myself to digest what this woman suggested and in the end I felt a sense of sorrow. For the basis of her argument is founded on some of the most shallow thinking in regards to human life. When you sum up everything she stated what it came down to is money and vanity. How small a world one must live in to judge the value of human life based on those two issues.



Marrin writes "The truth is, though people are too compassionate to point it out, that support is in short supply and is expensive." If one judges the choice to bring about life from a womans womb with the measure of expense than how does this impact the rest of society? What I'm asking, since Marrin is adamant she isn't a just some heartless eugenicist than her basis of argument which states that it is a 'great misfortune for babies to be born with Down Syndrome' must also be applied to the general population of the world, not just a particular group such as Down Syndrome.



If we apply this to the unborn fetuses rather than born individuals for to say that one who supports aborting the unborn is equal to killing the already living and breathing among us is just wrong. What we must conclude that a large part of the world should be aborting their unborn rather than making a choice to give birth if they are of a certain economic bracket. The poor should not give birth by this argument, for the poor tend to require social services more so than a person with money. The poor would put more of an economical drain on society than the rich so only the rich should choose to procreate. The poor giving birth, by her measure, would be a great misfortune and such fetuses would be better off not coming to term.



And what of family size in relation to the economic strain it puts on a family and society? Should there be a limit to how many children one can possibly have? I speak of a mother of five that there is a great financial difference between having two children versus that of five. If we are to judge that certain fetuses are better off not coming to term as they are a great misfortune due to economics than larger families would be included.



And as I sit here and think of the economical impact of having a child I must not ignore famine areas. Would it be better instead of sending in aid by way of medicine and food that we just ship off a plane load of doctors to perform abortions? It could in the long run do away with famine perhaps. If one looks at the numbers of 91% who choose to abort a fetus with Down Syndrome, especially if one is given only the most negative and pessimistic voice on the issue, I'm sure the numbers of choosing to abort in a famine ravaged area could be just as high.



Think I'm pushing things a bit? Well consider Marrin's own words



"After all, people accept abortion for certain “social reasons”, and what more powerful “social reason” could there be for an abortion than the virtual certainty that the foetus would be condemned to a life of frustration, disappointment, dependence, serious illness and poverty, to the great sorrow and hardship of its family? "



Perhaps I'm really not that far off in following her reasoning that leads her to believe that an individual with Down Syndrome is better off aborted. I could actually bring it a few steps beyond simply just being about economics and thus suggesting that anyone below a certain economic bracket should abort for the good of society. For the author continues on to suggest that looks play a part of the hardship as well.



"In a hyper-sexualised culture that worships bodily perfection, beauty and sexual success, adult life is also bound to be painful for people with Down’s. "



Considering these words obese parents, ugly parents, and parents that don't own up to this idea of bodily perfection, whatever that may be, should abort. Obesity would be on the top of the list considering the economic impact of obesity in our societies. Overweight and obese people tend to have higher rates of medical issues, from heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other health related problems. Their cost on the health care system alone is quite staggering when you look at the numbers. Ugly people are just an eye sore for the vain and don't really have a large economic impact, but judging by a body perfect culture their lives may end up feeling rejected and alone.



Marrin ends her article suggesting that parents who choose to have a child with Down Syndrome is choosing hardship. And suggesting morally the better choice is to abort rather than choose such hardship. As a mother I know that choosing to have children, any child not one just diagnosed with having Down Syndrome, is a conscious choice of hardship. There are absolutely no guarantees that your unborn will continue on in perfection, be it health, looks or economics. If one were to consider the probabilities of what could happen perhaps the better moral choice, in light of Marrin's judgements, would be to choose to not procreate at all.



Of course this all deeply depends on the moral standard in which we judge. Marrin's moral standard comes across as nothing more than a argument in support of Eugenics. I however, as a Muslim find such a moral standard of judging the quality of a human being shallow and devoid of any sense of human acceptance for those whom we deem less than deserving. As a Muslim I'm taught not to kill a child simply due to economics. To judge the value of a single life based on money is simply ignoring a larger moral issue of human greed. To say that a child born with Down Syndrome would be an economic drain can only be done when one ignores what a greedy society that most of us live in.



What one would need to convince me of is that when one is faced with choosing between a human life and more material possessions one is better off choosing a few unnecessary wants. The choice would come down to Umar or a big screen tv, a new SUV, and a weekly dinner out. For me the choice is easy for I don't devalue human life in such a manner. But when you argue that the unborn should be aborted based on money this is exactly what it comes down to.



As a Muslim (and this can hold true for any God conscious individual not just Muslims) I'm hard pressed to accept that the value of an individual should be based on social vanity. That even if one isn't found acceptable in a society that judges based on perfection that they are less than. To suggest otherwise is to say that anyone with a body disfigurement is to be pitied and seen as a hardship and sorrow. My world isn't that vain for me to accept this view. In fact I'm intolerant of judgements based on looks and that it is societies problem that looks down upon those that may look different than perceived norm. That any individual found wanting by others doesn't have something of value to add to our society or individual lives.



In the end, past my anger for such an article, I am left feeling pity. Pity for the individuals whose worlds are this shallow to hold such views on human beings. Pity that there are individuals whose hearts have hardened to such a point that they would suggest a child is simply a grave misfortune and the better choice would have been to abort. In all the hardships that children with Down Syndrome or any other disability and their families have to battle in their lives, to come up against individuals that claim such a judgement on them has to be the most difficult to deal with. For the realities of a disability one can accept as being beyond control. But to encounter individuals who choose to believe in such a way is much more difficult to comprehend.







*worth reading India Knight's article You forgot about love when it comes to Down Syndrome, Minette Marrin