National Down Syndrome Awareness Week - prenatal screening

November 1-7 is National Down Syndrome Awareness Week.  There are a number of resources on the Canadian Down Syndrome Society site.  Tonight the Felix clan and assorted friends will be celebrating with the Edmonton L'arche community.  Festive dinner, and an evening of fun and entertainment, and prayer for those among us who live with developmental disabilities. 

Over the past few years I've come to notice that the Canadian Down Syndrome Society has put out a few more resources dealing with a rather touchy contemporary issue - prenatal testing.  Representatives of the CDSS had a commentary published in the Canadian Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology [J. Obstet. Gynaecol Can2007;29(7):580–582], raising concerns related to the quality of information available to parents who undergo prenatal screening.  They also issued a press release, an excerpt of which is here:

Technological advances in fetal screening are presenting parents, and doctors, with enormous ethical, psychological and social dilemmas. Vulnerable, and with limited, biased, information, more than 90% of prospective parents in Canada choose termination if their fetus is determined in prenatal screening to have Down syndrome. They may never know there is a world of resources, possibilities and support out there. In spite of tireless efforts from support groups their information rarely reach prospective parents at the time they need it most.

In Canada the recent recommended expansion of screening protocols called for by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Canada has not been accompanied by a call for the expansion of the provision of non prejudicial information which outlines not just the potential medical conditions sometimes associated with Down syndrome but also about the richly rewarding lives possible for citizens with developmental disabilities in Canada. The United States recently called for the re-introduction a Prenatal Diagnosed Condition Awareness Act.

The CDSS acknowledges that in Canada women have the legal right to make decisions about the progression of their pregnancies; the CDSS insists that each individual family be given, without prejudice, information that accurately reflects the realities of a life with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.

The Canadian Down Syndrome Society is joining with regional parent support groups to ensure that the federal government enact a Canadian Pre diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act and that the provinces and territories participate or enact equivalent legislation within their jurisdictions. This Act, would ensure provinces and territories responsible for health care set aside reasonable resources, allowing organizations like the Canadian Down Syndrome Society to create and distribute informative, value neutral information to women and perspective families.

full text here

Asides which come to my mind:

Is this a matter of "inclusion"?  What does the "inclusive" church have to say on such issues?

How are to learn "radical" and "unconditional" love, unless we receive those who will require such love from us?

Comments

[Ian McKenzie]

Thanks for the link. In the past few weeks this has become a personal issue in our family.

[joseph]

We will keep you and yours in our prayers, Ian. If there is any way additional we can be of help, send me an email.