Israel launched a campaign on World Down Syndrome Day — held annually on March 21st — to encourage its citizens to embrace people with Down syndrome and discourage them from aborting these children. But some have objected to the campaign.
Haaretz reporter Ido Efrati responded with an op-ed saying that while the video, posted on social media, was meant to end stigma against Down syndrome, it will instead promote “high risk” pregnancies. This is an odd statement to make, as carrying a child with Down syndrome does not pose any additional risk to the mother; prenatal treatment will continue as usual, with any extra monitoring focused solely on the baby.
The campaign video features a woman named Avia Amsallem and her son, Ari.
“Did you consider having an abortion? Is it hard for you that he’s not like other children? Meet Ari – he has a ‘sweetdrome,'” she says in the video. It continues:
In my language, Down syndrome just means an extra chromosome — extra love, extra charm, extra joy for life. People think it’s pure darkness, some kind of terrible news – but it’s not. Having this child at home is the happiest, most wonderful thing I have. Is it a burden? No. On the contrary – it’s made life easier. It’s made being happy easier. I’ve gained perspective. Since he came into our lives, we’ve been extra happy, extra joyful.
She further argued that negative perspectives of Down syndrome should be changed.
“Let’s give it a chance. It’s just an extra chromosome – an extra dose of love and generosity, along with some other extras that can be challenging,” she said, later concluding:
I choose to face the hardship, to take it in both arms, to live it, to find joy in it, to focus on what I have. There are so many stigmas about Down syndrome – ‘They don’t live long,’ ‘They don’t talk’ – a million things I hear almost daily from strangers… I just wish we could change the stigma and the outdated ideas.
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Haaretz interviewed a doctor, who remained anonymous; he was quick to emphasize potential negatives regarding Down syndrome.
“[I]t’s different when videos like this circulate in parent groups than when such messaging is promoted by an official medical authority. The decision whether to terminate a pregnancy with a high risk of Down syndrome is a political, ethical and religious question that is debated around the world,” the doctor said, adding that the video is “too optimistic” about the challenges of raising a child with Down syndrome.
Israel is an incredibly pro-abortion country, particularly towards preborn children with disabilities — so much so, that a former abortionist who moved to Israel from the United States and began working as an OB/GYN was shocked at how common eugenic abortions are in the country.
The pressure to undergo an abortion for even the slightest fetal anomaly is so strong that the OB, Chavi Eve Karkowsky, said she felt herself resisting telling her patients about even small abnormalities, because she knew they would often ask for abortions. “A subtle abnormality, such as the one I saw in that ultrasound room outside Tel Aviv, can prompt a discussion of pregnancy termination,” she said. “Even at 35 weeks.”
