If I was a rose and you had choice,
would
you pick me, pluck me down from the tree?
Would
you hold me soft in the palm of your hand,
hold
my blush to the rose of your cheek?
My
mouth is a rosebud waiting for kisses;
my
heart is in blossom pulsating for you.
Please
will you choose me; please love me
don’t
lose me, for my heart beats only for thee.
Anna
:o[
Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day, but I must admit I would not have known had I not received a (subscribed to) email from MercatorNet.
It is
not the first email I have received re Down’s, and one email (I really can’t remember
its source) alerted me to John's Crazy Socks and I became a customer. John’s Crazy Socks is a million-dollar company
run by a young man with Down’s and his father.
We all, all of us, have the potential to succeed (in life), if only others believe
in us, believe that we all have value.
And we all do, although this is not the mindset of some, who
believe (or are directed to believe) that
those with Down’s are valueless, will have no quality of life and be unhappy. And if a parent of such a child, so will we.
It is
a sad fact that most diagnosed with Down’s (in utero) are aborted. Iceland claims that it has almost
eradicated Down’s – but this purely by termination – and the rest of the
western world is not far behind. What
does this make us?
Please
know that although I am pro-life, I am also not anti-abortion. This might appear a contradiction, but it is
not. If a prenatal diagnosis of incompatibly with life is made, then I agree
with termination. If a baby is born and
the same diagnosis is made, and is only kept alive with intensive invasive interventions
and has no quality of life, indeed suffering pain, and there is no hope of a ‘cure’ then I believe
life support should end, although I do understand if a parent of such a child,
I might probably fight this.
But
Down’s is not comparable with the above, life has value. And we should think of
what path we are taking, a path to where eugenics, the driving out of those
deemed imperfect becomes acceptable, becomes the norm.
If my
mum had been pregnant with me in today’s world, she could have had me aborted,
no question – although I am certain she wouldn’t – but the majority of my life
has been ‘normal’. I went to school, got
a job, got married and had two wonderful children and now two wonderful
grandchildren. I have value and am
valued. If I had been aborted, five new
lives would not exist.
To
close, another heart-lifting most beautiful video found on the Beeb whilst researching.
Shared with the good folk at dVerse.
Please visit the links.
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