Modern eugenics: Down syndrome ‘eradication’ in Iceland

A disturbing report from CBS News last week revealed Iceland is systemically aborting babies with Down syndrome. While some have hailed the news as a cultural advancement, pro-lifers note the so-called progress has only moved the country toward genocide.

The small Nordic island nation has a population of about 330,000 but averages only two babies born with Down syndrome each year. In the early 2000s, Iceland began prenatal testing to spot babies at high risk for Down syndrome and other abnormalities.

About 80 percent of pregnant women in Iceland choose screening and nearly 100 percent of those women decide to abort if their babies test positive for Down syndrome—a scary example of modern eugenics.

Iceland offers the most egregious example of the practice, but other European countries don’t fare much better. French women choose to abort babies with Down syndrome 77 percent of the time, as do 90 percent of women in the United Kingdom and 98 percent in Denmark.

One in every 700 babies born in the United States has Down syndrome—about 6,000 new cases each year, according to the National Down Syndrome Society. Expectant American women who find out their babies have Down syndrome choose to abort 67 percent of the time.

Pro-life advocates note everyone wants to have healthy children, but Iceland isn’t improving the lives of babies born with disabilities—it’s killing them.

“I have rarely seen a story that so closely resembles Nazi-era eugenics as a recent report about Iceland ‘eradicating’ nearly 100 percent of Down syndrome births through abortion,” Focus on the Family founder James Dobson said in a statement after seeing the CBS News report. “We should all be deeply sorrowful and outraged.”

Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. It can cause a range of developmental delays and create an increased risk of congenital heart defects, respiratory and hearing problems, and other medical conditions. But many people with Down syndrome lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

Upgraded education and healthcare programs have dramatically improved the lives of people with Down syndrome, increasing life expectancy from 25 in 1983 to 60 in 2017. Many children born with Down syndrome attend school, grow up and get jobs, and even get married.

Pro-life groups said the low number of Down syndrome births in Iceland is not progress—it’s inhumane.

“This is not a medical advancement. This is eugenics and barbarism at best,” said Penny Nance, president and CEO of Concerned Women for America. “These individuals have no less worth than anyone else.”

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, told Fox News that Iceland is guilty of genocide.

“Some are celebrating Iceland as having ‘eradicated’ Down syndrome,” she said. “But let’s be clear: this isn’t eradicating this disorder. This is no medical breakthrough. This is genocide. Down syndrome still exists. They are just killing all the preborn children who have it.”

9th Circuit sides with Daleiden in public records case

The liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a rare ruling in favor of pro-life activist David Daleiden last week. A unanimous three-judge panel struck down a lower court ruling that had allowed the University of Washington to heavily redact documents detailing the school’s involvement in fetal tissue research through its taxpayer-funded Birth Defects Research Laboratory.

Daleiden requested the documents as part of his investigation into the fetal tissue trade. Although he asked university officials to obscure names and contact information for any staffers mentioned in the documents, the employees sued to also keep entity names, job titles, and departments within the university secret.

Daleiden’s attorney, Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society, said those redactions amounted to censorship of public information. The 9th Circuit agreed, ruling the lower court failed to provide facts of law supporting its decision.

“The court of appeals, by reversing this decision and remanding this case back to District Court, has prevented a serious threat to the public’s right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” Breen said.

The 9th Circuit sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

“To prevail on their First Amendment claim, the Doe Plaintiffs must show that particular individuals or groups of individuals were engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment and show ‘a reasonable probability that the compelled disclosure of personal information will subject’ those individuals or groups of individuals ‘to threats, harassment, or reprisals’ that would have a chilling effect on that activity,” the 9th Circuit ruled. —Leigh Jones

Cecile Richards rallies pro-abortion troops

Planned Parenthood lashed out last week at Democratic Party leaders potentially supporting pro-life members of their party, claiming they lack principles.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., recently announced he would not withhold funds from pro-life candidates. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, told Politico that’s unacceptable.

“I think he’s totally wrong, and I’ll use every opportunity to convince him of that,” she said.

Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of Congress and want to find candidates that can be successful in the 2018 midterm elections. Luján doesn’t want to close the door on potentially victorious Democrats just because they disagree with the party platform on abortion. The campaign chairman is stanchly pro-abortion and has a perfect voting record on Planned Parenthood’s scorecard, but he says that should not be a litmus test for every Democrat.

The Democratic Party is increasingly becoming more pro-abortion but it will isolate itself if it demands unity for the entire party. If Democrats want to pick up seats in 2018 they will have to win in districts outside of liberal strongholds, which means supporting candidates with varied opinions.

More than one-fourth of Democrats still identify as pro-life, an inconvenient statistic Richards wants to ignore. Instead, she wants to vilify the remaining dissenters within the Democratic Party. —E.W.

Pro-life victory in Arkansas

A federal court ruled last week that Arkansas can block Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, axed the state’s Medicaid provider agreements with Planned Parenthood affiliates in Fayetteville and Little Rock in 2015. The defunding effort came after undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress showed Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissue at a profit. Three unnamed Planned Parenthood patients sued to block Hutchinson’s order, and courts filed an injunction to stop it from taking effect. But last week’s 2-1 decision from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the restriction and allowed Hutchinson to cut Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding. Before the ruling, the abortion giant received $51,000 in Medicaid funds each year to operate in Arkansas. Hutchinson called the ruling a “substantial legal victory.” —E.W.

Abortion free-for-all

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown made good last week on her promise to sign a bill requiring health insurance plans to cover abortion. The bill, passed by the state legislature in July, requires insurers to cover 100 percent of abortion and contraception costs, as well as screening for sexually transmitted diseases, pre- and postnatal care. Churches and religious nonprofit organizations are exempt, but any employees wanting the abortion or contraception coverage can apply to a $10 million state fund set aside to cover those costs. Lawmakers also allocated $500,000 to cover abortion and contraceptive costs for illegal immigrants, who don’t qualify for insurance coverage. —L.J.