A chance gathering in my kitchen: three people. My wife, who has some gypsy blood. Eddie. A friend who is Jewish. And the realisation that, under Hitler, all three would have been bound for the ovens. Down’s syndrome, any more than Jewishness or gipsyhood, is not something that needs to be wiped out for the good of humanity.
This part struck me as unbelievablly selfish: “If you were told that pressing a button would turn him into an infant Mozart or Einstein or van Gogh, would you press it? Or would you refuse because you love the person who is there and real, not some hypothetical other?”
How self-absorbed…
Where the hell are all these folk who are sniffy about people with Down’s? I remember some such attitudes way back in the fifties and sixties, but in this wretchedly white working class corner of the North East of England, no-one is even concerned anymore. Everyone seems to take the view that Down’s is no barrier to a full life, and a normal lifespan. That is generally considered to be a good thing.
Perhaps the writer of this dreck should move to Wooler. People in Wooler are very progressive. Also in Ashington, Morpeth, and Rothbury. I’m sure it will catch on in London eventually.
Monty – less than 10 years ago, someone in Amsterdam started a restaurant staffed by people with Down’s syndrome and he found it an uphill batttle to get the clientele to treat the staff as human beings. Motes and beams
Monty:
Data from the National Down Syndrome Cytogenetic Register in the United Kingdom indicates that 1989 to 2006 the proportion of women choosing to terminate a pregnancy following prenatal diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome has remained constant at around 92%.
To be honest, I have never met anyone who argued that Downs should be wiped out for the sake of humanity.
Theoretically, one could wipe out Jews and Gypsies, because there are a finite number of both, but one can’t wipe out a naturally reoccurring genetic abnormality, surely?