Remember the week Harriet Miers withdrew and WaPo ran an op-ed from a mother of a Down Syndrome child decrying the pressure parents feel to abort their kids because of genetic testing? Well, we knew they couldn't let that stand for long, right? From today's Health section, here comes the testimony of a woman who aborted her Down Syndrome child.
I have every sympathy for the woman; anyone can understand how wrenching it would be to be told your child has a serious genetic syndrome. And anyone can understand how frightening it would be to face the rest of your life caring for a person who is utterly dependent on you.
Yet at the same time, it's astonishing how one little article can reveal such utter self-absorption. First she's mad at her friends and acquaintances for not knowing quite what to say when she conceives late in life and out of wedlock. (Is it that unreasonable to want to find out if the child is wanted before exulting? What are people supposed to do --read minds? I hate it when people going out of their way to be unconventional get mad at others for not having a conventional response) Then she's letting Starbucks have it because they don't stock the right kind of tea for her pregnancy. Then she resents the idea that "some people" might disapprove of her decision to abort. We're supposed to believe she's so fearful of her --wait for it-- Catholic (dum-dum DUM) sister-in-law's opinion that she tells her she miscarried. But then she doesn't mind writing her very personal story in her own name very publicly.
On second thought, maybe it's not self-absorption being revealed. This testimony appeared within a day of this story about our new ability to diagnose Down Syndrome in the 1st trimester. Do you ever get the feeling that some of these sad stories are a little too tailor-made to be true?
