In 2012, the United Nations declared that March 21 would be observed globally as World Down Syndrome Day. The 3/21 date reflects the triplication of the 21st chromosome, which is what causes a child to be born with Down syndrome.
While the international community rightly celebrates the dignity and worth of Down syndrome individuals, it continues to fall devastatingly short in its effort to advocate for their right to life.
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Here in the Bay State, some school districts encourage students to “rock the socks.” By donning bright and unconventional knee-highs, teens remind their peers to respect and treat with kindness those with Down syndrome and other disabilities. Yet most of the time, school leaders don’t provide students with the complete picture; just as in global observances, the underlying issue remains buried: the truth that most babies who are prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome will be aborted.
Well-known author and “DadVocate” Kurt Kondrich is working to bring this truth to light. He and his teenage daughter, Chloe, who has Down syndrome, travel, testify, inform, and inspire. Kurt has presented at the United Nations three times, hoping that, one day, the organization will do more to actually save the lives of Down syndrome people like Chloe, rather than merely call for “inclusive” and “just” treatment.
“Identifying, targeting, and terminating a human being who receives a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis because they don’t meet the misguided cultural mandate for unattainable perfection represents the ultimate, extreme form of discrimination, prejudice, profiling, bigotry, intolerance, exclusion and hatred,” Kondrich said at the U.N. recently. “It is something none of us should accept or tolerate!”
Last month, Massachusetts Citizens for Life filed a bill that would protect the lives of Down syndrome babies. Text from our bill follows below, and a full version can be read online. We are grateful to Rep. David DeCoste (R - 5th Plymouth) for his lead sponsorship and to Reps. Colleen Garry (D - 36th Middlesex), Joseph McKenna (R - 18th Worcester) & Alyson Sullivan-Almeida (R - 7th Plymouth) for co-sponsoring this legislation. Currently, the bill is with the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. We’ll let you know when a hearing date has been set and when you can submit written testimony or testify in person/virtually.
Today, though, I ask you to mark World Down Syndrome Day by simply sending Committee members a plea to protect babies in the womb who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis. Click the link to find a pre-written message; you’ll be free to edit it, if you wish.
As Kurt often says, “Embrace, don’t erase people with Down syndrome.” Perhaps that alone is all our legislators need to hear from you today.
With gratitude for your advocacy,
P.S. - You’ll get to hear from Kurt himself when he joins us as a guest in our Virtual Speaker Series! Stay tuned for a date announcement and registration details.
H.1665 An Act Related to Down Syndrome (partial text)
Section 3. (a) No person shall purposefully perform or induce or attempt to induce an abortion on a pregnant female woman, if the person has knowledge that the pregnant female woman is seeking the abortion, in whole or in part, because of any of the following: a test result indicating Down syndrome in an unborn child; a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome in an unborn child; or any other reason to believe that an unborn child has Down syndrome.
(b) Any physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or other individual whether or not licensed by the Board of Registration in Medicine, the Board of Registration in Nursing, the Board of Registration of Physician Assistants, or otherwise authorized by law to practice medicine within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who violates section 3(a), is guilty of performing or attempting to perform an abortion that was being sought because of Down syndrome, a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than fifteen years or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or by a fine of not more than fifteen thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) The Board of Registration in Medicine, the Board of Registration in Nursing, and the Board of Registration of Physician Assistants shall revoke the medical license to practice medicine or nursing in this commonwealth of the physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or other medically licensed individual who violates section 3(a).
(d) Any physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, or other individual who violates section 3(a) is liable in a civil action for compensatory and exemplary damages and reasonable attorney’s fees to any person, or the representative of the estate of any person, who sustains injury, death, or loss to person or property as the result of the performance or inducement or the attempted performance or inducement of the abortion. In any action under this section, the court may also award any injunctive or other equitable relief that the court considers appropriate.
(e) A pregnant woman on whom an abortion is performed or induced or attempted to be performed or induced in violation of section 3(a) is not guilty of violating section 3(a) or of attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or complicity in committing a violation of section 3(a).