Jump directly to the Content
The Problems with Outlawing Selective Abortion"Until we learn how to value every human being based upon their identity as children, neighbors, friends, and siblings, as ones who exist in reciprocal relationships of love and care with others, we will continue to devalue every human being."

I have a new post for the Atlantic, in which I argue that North Dakota's Ban is a Bad Way to Stop Selective Abortion. I hope you'll join the comments over on that site or offer your own here. Here's one paragraph to peak your interest:

But to argue for my daughter's value based upon her abilities is to buy into an impoverished idea of humanity. Until we learn how to value every human being based upon their identity as children, neighbors, friends, and siblings, as ones who exist in reciprocal relationships of love and care with others, we will continue to devalue every human being. A liberal democratic society is based upon an ideal of community and civic responsibility in which we care for the most vulnerable among us, in which we go out of our way to support individuals and their families not because of their potential economic productivity but because of their intrinsic worth. The reason to support individuals with disabilities and their families is not because those individuals may offer another heartwarming story of overcoming expectations and reaching Mt. Everest's base campswimming Lake Tahoebecoming a model or actor or hitting a 3-pointer in a basketball game (all things that people with Down syndrome have done). The reason to support them is to demonstrate that what sets us apart as human beings is the capacity for reciprocal relationships of love, no matter our age, intellect, or economic worth.

Read more here.

 

Support our work. Subscribe to CT and get one year free.

Recent Posts

Follow Christianity Today
Free Newsletters