This week on the Pro-Life World View, we bring you interesting articles on positive action taken by mothers who resisted pressure to abort their pre-born babies diagnosed with Down syndrome and good and bad news on the euthanasia front.
Mum felt pushed to abort baby with Downs syndrome
Kate Morgan – BBC Wales
Mums who felt pushed to abort their babies set up charity to welcome babies with Down syndrome
When Kat Booker’s baby was diagnosed as having Down syndrome, she “felt like I was being pushed towards termination [induced abortion] because it was the easier thing to do.” Fortunately, Kat decided to continue with the pregnancy and gave birth to her “dream” daughter, little Nancy. Kat and other mums with similar experiences have set up a charity gifting Welcome Boxes to babies with Down syndrome, which sends the message to mothers: “You are not alone; your baby will be alright.”
Dame Colleen Bayer DSG, Founder of Family Life International NZ, has commented: “People with Down syndrome live good lives and are loved and valued. The idea that they are a “disadvantage” and that we are “doing the most good” by not having them around is an extreme form of discrimination that reinforces negative stereotypes towards them. It exposes them to harmful attitudes, bigotry and prejudice.”
Ontario MAiD death review stories
Alex Schadenberg – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Deep flaws in euthanasia decision-making process are revealed by official report in Ontario
Alex Schadenberg, the chairman of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, provides a revealing commentary on six euthanasia death stories in Ontario, Canada, in a case review published by the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Mr Schadenberg spotlights deep flaws in the decision-making processes sanctioning killing via euthanasia and medically enabled suicide, flaws which lead to wrongful deaths, for example in one case, “the person who died by euthanasia had no pathological findings that were found at the time of post-mortem examination. In other words he was otherwise healthy.” In another case, “Mr A was killed without being offered an alternative to live.”
Michelle Kaufman, National Director for FLI, comments: “The Ontario MAiD case review demonstrates just how dangerous it is to rely on so-called safeguards to prevent wrongful killings. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that the review of the New Zealand End of Life Choice Act 2019 currently underway will be so transparent concerning wrongful deaths occurring here. Our ultimate goal is to end the legalised killing. Still, we must also insist that the law is not flouted and that there be independent reviews of every request for death before any such application is approved.”
Great news – Welsh parliament rejects assisted suicide
Alex Schadenberg – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Great news: Welsh parliament rejects assisted suicide
The parliament in Wales (the Sennedd) has signalled its opposition to legalising assisted suicide by 26 votes to 19. The vote was taken in advance of a parliamentary debate in Westminster later this month on legislation to authorise assisted suicide in England and Wales. Whilst the Senedd vote is symbolic only, since Westminster is the law-maker on euthanasia, Dr Gordon MacDonald, CEO of the UK’s pro-life group Care Not Killing, said that the result “proves that the more people, including parliamentarians, hear about implications of legalising state assisted killing the more they reject changing the law because they see how it would put pressure on the elderly, terminally ill and disabled people to end their lives prematurely.”
Michelle Kaufman, National Director of FLI, said, “It is encouraging to hear of such wins in defence of life and truth, in the face of a relentless expansion worldwide of the culture of death – euthanasia and the medical assisting of people in suicide is a key battlefront.”
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