Down syndrome was not in the plans for Debora and Cameron Engen, but God had bigger plans when He gave them baby Charlotte. Now, Debora documents her family’s joyful journey in loving their first child, Charlotte, even after her surprising them by having Down syndrome.
Debora speaks candidly on her platforms about how Charlotte has added to their family’s happiness and life experience. She and her husband share frequently about the unique joys in parenting Charlotte, who has amassed attention due to her spunky personality, signature bedhead, and her parents’ positive representation.[1]
Contrast this with Jesse and Ashley Ridgway, who garnered attention in late May as they vlogged[2] about receiving news that their son had Down syndrome.[3]
Ashley was in her second trimester of pregnancy and had been collecting clothing and planning the nursery for this baby. Early in the video, they describe the horror they felt during an ultrasound-led needle extraction of a genetic sample. Their son rolled toward the needle, and they were terrified for his safety. Then, minutes later in this video, they explain they had been considering an abortion for this very same baby.
When the couple wanted to keep the baby, any harm to him was unthinkable. But once he became a difficulty, they saw violent “termination” as the best option. Ashley is shown sobbing hysterically as the couple processed the news. She cried out that starting their family shouldn’t have had to be this complicated. In her eyes, her baby was a setback to be removed from their journey to a perfect family. The couple described themselves as traumatized by this experience in the video. In their eyes, they are the victims. Ultimately, the Ridgeways chose to abort their son.
What is NIPT?
How did the Ridgeways even know that their son had Down syndrome?
The couple received this diagnosis from a very common blood test called the non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT), which tests for chromosomal abnormalities in the baby. A pregnant mother’s blood contains small amounts of her baby’s blood, so a simple blood draw can retrieve the baby’s DNA for testing.[4]
NIPTs are recommended for pregnant women, so around 2 million women undergo the test every year.[5] Many pregnant Christian women refuse this test knowing that the results would not sway their decision to choose life.
Most NIPTs screen for Down syndrome, Trisomy 13, and Trisomy 18. While people with Down syndrome can live well into their 60s, people with Trisomy 13 and 18 have a 10% or less chance of making it to their first birthday.[6]
Pressured to Abort
Many parents feel pressured to abort when they receive a “bad” diagnosis,[7] effectively when the upcoming birth of a baby with special needs becomes more of an inconvenience to the medical staff or family. As a society, we ought to give extra care to the most vulnerable, but abortion is often presented as the only logical response.
These types of abortions are based on a premise: disabilities make life less precious.
False Positives
To make matters worse, the screening for these prenatal diagnoses can produce false positives.[8] These false positives significantly increase stress in the expectant mothers which in turn increases stress in their babies.[9]
Approximately 1% of NIPTs are inaccurate. While this number sounds low, remember: about 2 million women receive NIPTs yearly, which means that there are roughly 20,000 inaccurate NIPT results a year. Nearly 80% of preborn persons diagnosed in-utero with Down syndrome are aborted.[10]
A 2014 study showing six consecutive cases of false positives from the NIPT results concluded that women needed an invasive sample test to confirm the non-invasive diagnoses. These invasive methods hold the risk of miscarriage and therefore dissuade many mothers from subjecting the baby to them.[11]
The cognitive dissonance is palpable: the same mother who does not want to risk a miscarriage for genetic testing may turn around and abort that same baby whose NIPT test results came back as inconvenient to her.
Test inaccuracies have a sizable impact on abortion numbers annually. Women risk receiving inaccurate information regarding their child’s projected abilities with the NIPT test. They are then expected to make a hasty decision on whether they will end that child’s life or accept the challenges of the diagnosis.
Post-abortive Trauma
Whether the baby is permitted to live or is aborted, the mother, regardless, endures stress.[12] However, the stress compounds with trauma in the case of an abortion. The mother holds a sense of loss on a biological level by not birthing her baby, as well as enduring the trauma from an invasive abortion, which often happens while conscious.[13]
There is a frightening lack of honesty with women regarding maternal-fetal health and their options. Roe v. Wade was passed to permit women to decide whether or not to abort their baby. As heinous as it may be, this post-Roe climate is yet worse than just permitting abortion. Women are now pressured to make eugenic decisions based on the child’s anticipated quality of life.
The onus falls on the parents to ultimately choose life for their child. However, medical professionals are also responsible for providing a complete picture when providing a diagnosis. Bias also should not come into medical advice. It is not uncommon for doctors to bring up certain high-risk factors in a woman’s pregnancy only after finding out that she is more vulnerable to choosing an abortion.[14]
Women who have abortions are at risk for experiencing PASS – Post-abortion stress syndrome. This is a form of PTSD and can have long-term effects. Anxiety, guilt, depression, and numbness are common symptoms.[15] In tandem with a NIPT results’ inconclusiveness, the mothers choosing an abortion risk mental health struggles without certainty of that baby’s condition.
Personhood
The personhood movement exists to advocate for mothers who are considering or being pressured into choosing an abortion. No in-utero diagnosis can determine the quality of a baby’s life. It is unjust for doctors to assume as much and encourage abortions as a solution. Ashley and Jesse Ridgway’s baby would likely have had an excellent quality of life with Down syndrome. Or perhaps the test was wrong.
Regardless, every life is precious and worthy of love, and Georgia Right to Life will continue advocating for personhood until all life is protected from fertilization to natural death.
Sources:
[1] Debora Lengen’s Instagram
[2] the results of our amniocentesis came back… | Jesse Ridgeway
[3] Jesse Ridgway speaks out on death threats after ending pregnancy due to Down syndrome | LA Times
[4] NIPT Test
[5] Cancer.gov
[6] Down syndrome, Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18
[7] Actress Justene Alpert Says She Terminated Pregnancy After ‘Rare Genetic Disease’ Diagnosis
[8] A Case of False Negative NIPT for Down Syndrome-Lessons Learned | NIH
[9] Relationship between False Positive Screening Results of Down Syndrome and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes | NIH
[10] NIH Statistics
[11] Six consecutive false positive cases from cell-free fetal DNA testing in a single referring centre | NIH
[12] Prenatal screenings can lead to false positives, heightened anxiety | AAMC
[13] Conscious Sedation for Surgical Abortion
[14] Actress Justene Alpert Says She Terminated Pregnancy After ‘Rare Genetic Disease’ Diagnosis
[15] Post Abortion Syndrome
Eleanor Rits
Georgia Right to Life
Personhood Ethics Analyst
Georgia Right to Life Committee (GRTL) is a faith-based, non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization whose fundamental purpose is to engage in actions that will restore respect and effective legal protection for all human beings from the moment of fertilization until natural death.