Andrea Bocelli..arguably the worlds greats living tenor was born with congenital glaucoma. He became almost completely blind by the age of 12…

I work with children who have a range of disabilities and what a gift they are! What saddens me is that medical ‘professionals’ are all too keen to paint the negative picture (he/she will never be able to . . .). In my own experience, the children are only too happy to prove them wrong.

If we continue to abort babies at every stage of pregnancy justified by potential limitations of disability, should we then execute all those who, in the course of their lives, become disabled? It may sound absurd but what is the difference – life is life and not for us to decide on what constitutes quality.

It is an EXTREME example of the throw-away society in which we live.

Edvard, potential suffering cannot be a reason to end a child’s life. The assumption that ‘disability = poor quality of life’ is seriously flawed – many physically healthy children are born that will almost certainly live lives of immense emotional suffering, just as there are many severely disabled children born that bring immense joy to their families despite the hardships (take David Cameron’s comments on his severely disabled son, recently.)

You are talking about a human being, not a disease.

abortion is wrong no matter what! Even people with diseases at least want a CHANCE to live, how would you feel if you never got to live at all.

Annie 1981, what is very scary is that the downs syndrome tests are only around 50% accurate. Had your sister in law not been the brave woman she was then she may have aborted based on what isn’t even a conclusive test.

It disgusts me that they are now attempting to develop tests to see if a child is autistic in the womb. It sickens me that the doctors who vow to save and preserve life now use the skill of science to attempt what they believe is a ‘perfect’ human being. God did not give us science so that we could destroy the world as we are doing.

I had a termination at 24 and a half weeks gestation. My much loved son was diagnosed with the most severe form of spina bifida and would not have survived outside the womb. It was the most terrible decision of my life to make but I am glad I had the choice to make it. If I had carried him to term and if he had survived the birth, he would hae suffered immensely. He would have been blind and deaf. I cannot even contemplate a mother sitting watching her beloved baby gasping for air and then eventually dying. It was the kindest thing I could have done for my precious son. Terminations for disabilities have their place. What people try to do is put disabilities into nice neat little pockets but in reality it isnt so black and white. Downs babies often have other major heart conditions and abnormalities associated which greatly affect their lives. I personally wouldn’t terminate a downs baby but I am very grateful that I have the choice.

I disagree with you Lucy – if the alternative is that the child’s life will be shortlived, and filled with nothing but pain and suffering, sadly to let the child die may be the kinder option. It is naive to think that improvements in medical care will provide some miracle cure for severely disabled babies.

this is sick this is wat my baby looks like now i am 28 weeks too, ok so the baby has something wrong wiv it but for crying out loud at least have it n put it up for adoption give the baby a chance at life how can anyone kill a baby at this stage i am totally agaisnt abortions unless its in the first few weeks and or baby life or mums life is at risk but to kill a baby at 28weeks cus it is disabled is MURDER…

To all of you who say aborting a disabled baby is cruel, not one of you gave a disabled child. i do and it is for that reason i agree with abortion. You can never know how much it breaks my heart to see him so ill, knowing that he will live as long as you or I, but having no quality. He can do nothing my himself other than breathe and never will. he is fed through a tube and cannot move. His life will never get better. Is that something you’d put your child through? 80 or so years of that? Have a heart. I love my son to the end of the world but if I got pregnant again and got told the baby was disabled, I’d abort simply because I cannot watch another child of mine go through that. He brings joy to my life, but has now also ruined it. I can never work, see friends or have other babies simply because he takes up 24 hours of my day. Its not just the babies life is ruined by disability, its the parents too. Though I love my son, if I could end his misery I would and I’d feel no guilt for that

Personally by reading this.
A human is a human whether or not their child has a disbility or doesn’t.
They deserve to live, yea it might be hard on the parents and society possibly. But thats YOUR child whom you are giving life to so to just stop it by aborting (murdering) your baby, maybe you should actually think twice and think “what if i was that baby?”
Because as far as im concerned i see kids with disbilities and etc living life so i don’t see what the problem is.
Maybe their just ashamed because their kid idn’t come out the way they wanted.
But sad to say, you can’t always get what you want outta life things just happens because thats how its suppose to be.

Morally its wrong so people say, than why do they partake in the action of destroying a life.ridiculous.

this is sickning . and its so sad to becasue the ones that are disabled are the ones that make a bigger impact in the world then normal people . i sat here and saw pictures and they just made me sick by looking at them , there are women out there who want to experience this amazing gift why not just give the baby up for adoption?

My mother tried for years to conceive another child. When she conceived me, at six months they told her I would probably be born with cerebral palsy. They didn’t have a definite answer, but suggested she abort. My mother refused, and for that I owe her my life in more ways than one.
If I were to conceive a child I knew had a disability, I know in my heart that I couldn’t abort it. I may never be able to give it the life it needs, but I’ll be sure to bust my ass and get it done, or find a family that wants to, and can do more than I ever can.

Just because a baby has a disability doesn’t make it any less worthy of a life.

this is disgusting in the bible it says any person that raises a child with disabilities will be blessed besides i have a lil girl and how can you do this im young and my life is tough but even if my child was disabled i would love her the same this is a gift from God and its a human being…the baby has been fighting to survive in its mother whomb and in the end itz own mother decides to kill it thats disgusting but at least those lil angels arent suffering anymore!!!!!

I am going through a termination procedure for multiple abnormalities. I don’t want to do this procedure. If it was just one abnormality I would not terminate. I am not even really concerned with the physical stuff, but the possibility of both mental retardation and severe physical disability pushes me over the edge. I made the decision after talking to people, who lived with taking care of disabled children. They said it will consume your whole life. One of you will have to stay home. The financial cost is also astronomical. The divorce rate rises dramatically in comparison to the general population. Three different people hinted at this. For those of you who turned out okay, after the “doctors” said something different, I just have to say you were very lucky. Not everyone is that lucky and you could have been born a vegetable. And on the subject of adoption, it is true, there are some people willing to adopt a disabled child. However, as others have pointed out to me. Their are institutions that have hundreds of unwanted disabled adults, because their parents died off. I do not doubt that I could care for a disabled child, but who will carry the burden after me. I can’t think of anyone. Just to clarify, I am talking about kids who are really disabled. ie they have multiple/major disabilities and would require the care of others. Those kids cannot take care of themselves and nobody is able to care for them. They are in mental institutes and are being taken care of by the government. My friend said to me, if I did not volunteer there, they would have noone. I cried on the inside. It’s easy to say I won’t have an abortion because of faith. But for every good case there are horrific cases as well. For the people who say never, are you currently taking care of a severely disabled child. Have you given up your whole life. Are you lucky enough to have a husband or wife that can support the situation, both emotionally and financially. There is an issue here of responsibility. Are you willing to give all your free time to a disabled person. What if the child has to be fed with a spoon all of it’s life. I wonder if the people who are so against aborting severely disabled babies are willing to do that. I talked to people, who actually did it and took care of a severely disabled person. If a child will have the “possibility” of being severely disabled, you have to think, do you want to put another human being through all it. It’s not an easy decision. For people deciding on aborting for one disability, you need to think long and hard about your decision as others have suggested. There is no right or wrong answer. It’s a tough choice that no human being should have to go through.

for someone: … You cannot know the future. Reality is never as scary as the unknown … Don’t be frightened. I was terrified when I found out I was expecting a down’s syndrome baby-turns out the baby was my son, who has down’s syndrome. I had the same worries as you.

I am disabled with Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and other health issues, life is a pain and its difficult, very difficult but ALL disabled people have a right to life, anyone can become severely handicapped at any time in their life by accident, illness etc. My dad was a very capable man and highly intelliegnt but he now has Parkinsons and Dementia and then you get some people who get brain injured or ill, we don`t solve the problem of dealing with society`s handicapped and ill by killing them, we have a duty to protect and care for them. I am also unable to have children ( barren) and would love to have had them but my current mental health means I can`t adopt. Like i say my life is difficult, I cannot work, have a family and have a struggle each day but if my mum had been told way back in 1966, “Oh your kid is going to grow up with alot of pain and suffering” it still would not give her the right to abort, we all get pain and trauma its called life, its mostly diffiuclt is life I think but killing off the frail and ill and handicapped is wrong.

To all those considering abortion out there because of birth defects I offer you my situation: My baby boy was born with AV Malformation. I know this doesn’t mean much to you as it didn’t to me when I first heard it. The blood vessels in his brain had not formed correctly. His body was going into complete organ failure as his heart tried desperatly to supply his brain with blood, and deliver the rest of the body the blood it needed. Basically the mass of veins that weren’t supposed to be in his head were killing him slowly. His disease is so rare, a nurse in a very busy NICU of over 25 years had never seen such a case. Nor have they seen another since my boy. Imagine how freightening it was for me having to have a c-section delivery, and the nurses coming and telling me my boy was going into heart failure. Then coming back an hour or so later liver failure, kidney failure…
I couldn’t even get out of bed. I had only held my child once.
Now imagine almost three years later a perfectly healthy, strong little boy no one thought would live. He is absolutley gorgeous, and full of life. The life I gave him. He still even at this age gets compliments on how beautiful he is. I believe this is because he was so special in God’s eyes too. He is the light of my life. And, yes a baby with complications will fill your entire life up, but a healthy baby does that too! You wouldn’t have it any other way. I could not imagine not having my baby come up to me, and say “Love you mama” every night before bed. Imagine if he was that baby you are carrying, and you knew of his problems before hand. Would you take his life from him? He may still have some side effects as he grows older, but none of that matters now. He is my angel, and indeed loved as one no matter what his problems. I hope you choose life for your child as well. No matter how hard it may seem, or indeed will be, there is no greater joy than being a mom. You will know that the very moment your child looks into your eyes. There are couples out there who will adopt a baby with complications, even severe complications. Go to lds.org There are a lot of couples there looking for children if you can’t take care of your baby, but choose to give them life. A chance. They might just suprise you.

I’m 28 wks pregnant, I would like to think that I will give this child the best of opportunities in life irregardless of the outcome of their birth. I can only hope and pray that my child is well and healthy when he or she is born, like my other two children. Abortion would never be an option. But I am also a farmer and I have seen many animals at different stages of pain and distress due to disease, horrific accidents, old age and birth defects. I have fought for long hours to save many animals but there often comes the point where you realise you are causing more pain and suffering and when a happy outcome becomes impossible there is the hard decision to euthanasia. Maintaining animals in a chronic state of pain and distress is considered cruelty and fully punishable by the courts, but to maintain a human under the same conditions is not! I find this shocking. Personally I could not abort a child on the grounds that there is always hope that their life will not be painful as predicted. I think though that in some circumstances there are grounds for euthanasia when I person is in a constant state of unalterable pain or life can only be maintained through extreme and invasive mechanical means.

I can’t believe some of the pathetic excuses people will use to justify the killing of human beings. Compassion Ha! Then why does that so called compassion fill me with pain & fear then. I could become seriously ill or have a serious accident while pregnant, be left unable to move or communicate. Then have some so called doctor decide it’s in my & my preborn childs interest to have a meeting to decide whether it’s best to kill us. They must really feel they are some kind of gods to dare feel they should ever be allowed to decide let alone action such a thing, NO I DO NOT WANT US TO BE KILLED. I would want a doctor who did their job & took away my pain or sedated me & nurses who did their job & cared for us. Why should they decide whether we are worthy of this! As a human being surely to be cared for when in need is the least we should expect. To be told in no uncertain terms that I should feel undignified or a drain on resources if needing treatment is sick & inhumane. Why are people taught these days to worship the economy & forsake their human kind. If I loose the power of communication, my & my preborns life will literally be in the hands of a mainly pro-murder society. I could never have imagined as a child that one day I would discover I &/or my preborn could ever be murdered by our own kind in the name of compassion. To know I have paid for this to happen in taxes makes me sick & I am definitely on strike.

I could not of even considered abortion and can’t really imagine why anyone else would either, not after you see the angle of a face your child has with or without disabilities. I had my first child at 18 yrs old he was born at 22 wks and 3 days gestion. All the doctors told me that I shouldn’t have him revived and let him die because he has no chance of survival and if by chance he did survive he would be a so mentally retarded he wouldn’t amount to anything.. well let me tell you my boy is now 4yrs old almost 5 and yes he has his problems and he is behind for his age but he is the best thing that ever happend to me and he has taught me so much throughout his life.. I wouldn’t ever consider losing the perfect little smiles, the I LOVE YOU’s or night night or the few new words or phrases he learns every week. Me along with mmy husband are the reason my son crawls why he talks and why he is still able to talk to breaths that he takes and would of never changed that for anything not even a doctor telling me that he would be disabled. Then i went on the have two more children born at 32wks and 35wks both early and without complications other than low birth weight and you know the docs told me to abort because the same thing was going to happen to them and my response was GOD WILL NEVER PUT MORE ON YOUR SHOULDERS THAN YOU CAN HANDLE!!!!! and EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!!!! so the next time you are thinking of aborting a child because they may have some kind of mental or physical deformaty or just because you are thinking of the money its going to cost you SHAME ON YOU for thinking only of yourself.

Mia- as I have killed before I can say with absolute certainty that people were not meant to kill. Should someone have a choice to kill for compassion NO OF COURSE NOT, NO MATTER WHAT THE EXCUSE OR REASONING.

Firstly who are we to decide how long a person must live in order for their life to have been worth it for them or us. This argument can only benefit us, as in the sense of how much time/money we are spending on caring for them. Doctors will often recommend abortion claiming that it is for compassion, but many suspect it has more to do with the intensive care bugdet/resources. You can’t look at life & say you will have pain every moment you are alive & then die. Physical pain can be managed & if this were my child I would demand they did, this is where I would threaten to sue & when threatened with the loss of greater finances I’m sure coincidentaly the meds would come. You hear of children undergoing much painfull treatment in incubators & being unable to express pain. The sad truth is though often unless a patient can prove they are suffering, meds are expensive & so will often not be given. Especially to unborn & babies as they can not provide evidence of suffering.

I would make the short life my child had one they would be proud of. I would fight for them & be on their side all the way. I would never betray my child, or side with doctors & kill my child.

The mental torture of forever knowing you killed your child is not one that should ever be lawfully allowed on anyones mind. To have to live with the knowlegde is to allow the state to punish you forever, it should not be a choice a civilized society would afford you. Sadly democracy doesn’t bring a civilised, healthy, responsible or respectful society though & don’t we know it.

This is a difficult case but we can never do anything deliberately to end the life of an unborn child. All life is God-given; even those disabled. Yes, in such circumstances, a child may well not survive but we would be very wrong to hasten its death.

Jozef