{"id":7307,"date":"2014-08-23T11:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-23T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/dawkins-misses-joy-of-those-with-down-syndrome-critics-say-13886\/"},"modified":"2014-08-23T11:01:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-23T11:01:00","slug":"dawkins-misses-joy-of-those-with-down-syndrome-critics-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/08\/dawkins-misses-joy-of-those-with-down-syndrome-critics-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawkins misses joy of those with Down syndrome, critics say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Denver, Colo., Aug 23, 2014 \/ 05:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Advocates of those with Down syndrome have strongly criticized prominent atheist Richard Dawkins\u2019 suggestions that it would be immoral not to abort a child diagnosed with the condition.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cPeople with Down syndrome should not be treated like second-class citizens, and anyone making that argument sets back the great progress that has been made in terms of equality for all people,\u201d said David Tolleson, executive director of the Atlanta-based National Down Syndrome Congress.<\/p>\n

\tTolleson said his organization believes those with Down syndrome and those who do not have the condition are \u201cmore alike than different,\u201d and statements like those of Richard Dawkins \u201cpromote division instead of unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMichelle Sie Whitten of the Denver-based Global Down Syndrome Foundation said that people with Down syndrome \u201ccan and do live long, happy and productive lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDawkins, a well-known atheist writer, biologist and former Oxford University professor, sparked controversy with a Twitter comment on the topic.<\/p>\n

\tAddressing a woman who said she would face a \u201creal ethical dilemma\u201d if she were pregnant with a baby diagnosed with Down syndrome, Dawkins replied in a tweet: \u201cAbort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn an Aug. 21 blog post, Dawkins apologized for the \u201cfeeding frenzy\u201d over his brief remark, saying he intended it to be read only by the woman addressed, who frequented forums on his website.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, he stood by his claim that in his view, \u201cthe moral and sensible choice would be to abort\u201d an unborn baby with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI personally would go further and say that, if your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness and reduce suffering, the decision to deliberately give birth to a Down baby, when you have the choice to abort it early in the pregnancy, might actually be immoral from the point of view of the child\u2019s own welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDawkins said that his position \u201csimply follows logically from the ordinary pro-choice stance that most of us, I presume, espouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe acknowledged his opinion is \u201ccontentious,\u201d but said that the choice to give birth to a child with Down syndrome \u201cwould probably be condemning yourself as a mother (or yourselves as a couple) to a lifetime of caring for an adult with the needs of a child.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo wonder most people choose abortion when offered the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Down syndrome organizations said in a joint Aug. 22 statement that they were \u201coutraged and saddened\u201d by Dawkins\u2019 comments, saying he \u201cstrongly argued for the elimination of people with the condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThey stressed the need for accurate information about people who live with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\tPeople with Down syndrome in the U.S. have an average lifespan of 60 years and have benefited from \u201cgreat strides\u201d in medical care and research, the foundations said. They are able to take advantage of educational and work opportunities.<\/p>\n

\tMost U.S. families who have a member with Down syndrome are \u201cstable, successful and happy.\u201d Siblings often report \u201cincreased levels of compassion and empathy,\u201d and one study has found a lower divorce rate among parents of a child with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\tThe Down syndrome foundations said that about 67 percent of pregnant women in the U.S. who receive a positive result for the condition on an amniocentesis test terminate their pregnancies. However, over 95 percent of pregnant women do not choose to have the test.<\/p>\n

\tDawkins\u2019 comments also elicited a response from J.D. Flynn, a Catholic writer from Lincoln, Neb., who is the adoptive father of two young children with Down syndrome. In an open letter to Dawkins, published on the First Things website Aug. 22, he voiced concern about seeing abortion of the genetically disabled as \u201ca moral good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFlynn said his children are \u201cdelightful,\u201d \u201cbeautiful\u201d and \u201chappy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOne is a cancer survivor, twice-over,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI found that in the hospital, as she underwent chemotherapy and we suffered through agony and exhaustion, our daughter Pia was more focused on befriending nurses and stealing stethoscopes. They suffer, my children, but in the context of irrepressible joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI wonder, if you spent some time with them, whether you\u2019d feel the same way about suffering, about happiness, about personal dignity,\u201d he continued. \u201cI wonder, if you danced with them in the kitchen, whether you\u2019d think abortion was in their best interest. I wonder, if you played games with them, or shared a joke with them, whether you\u2019d find some worth in their existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFlynn invited Dawkins to dinner at his home, clarifying that the invitation was not intended for debate or for condemnation, but simply to meet his children.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI want you to experience the joy of children with Down syndrome. I want your heart to be moved to joy as well.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Denver, Colo., Aug 23, 2014 \/ 05:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Advocates of those with Down syndrome have strongly criticized prominent atheist Richard Dawkins’ suggestions that it would be immoral not to abort a child diagnosed with the condition.<\/p>\n

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