Frank Stephens, a man with Down syndrome, told a congressional committee on Wednesday that his life is “worth living” while condemning the “final solution” proposed by abortion advocates who would kill babies with the genetic condition.
“Seriously, I don’t feel I should have to justify my existence. Is there really no place for us in the world?” Mr. Stephens, a screen actor and spokesman for people with Down syndrome, told the assembly. “Surely happiness is worth something.”
“Let’s be America, not Iceland or Denmark,” Stephens said, referring to recent reports chronicling the near-100 percent abortion rate of unborn children diagnosed with Down syndrome in those countries.
As Breitbart News reported in August, the vast majority of pregnant women in Iceland whose babies test positive for Down Syndrome end up aborting their children, a statistic that many tout as a sign of “progress.”
“My understanding is that we have basically eradicated, almost, Down syndrome from our society—that there is hardly ever a child with Down syndrome in Iceland anymore,” said Kari Stefansson, a geneticist and the founder of deCODE Genetics, a company that has studied nearly the entire Icelandic population’s genomes.
In response, Patricia Heaton, the pro-life star of ABC’s The Middle tweeted: “Iceland isn’t actually eliminating Down syndrome. They’re just killing everybody that has it. Big difference.”
In his address at the Capitol, Mr. Stephens stated: “Some people say prenatal screens will identify Down syndrome in the womb, and those pregnancies will just be terminated. It’s hard for me to sit here and say those words. I completely understand that the people pushing this particular ‘final solution’ are saying that people like me should not exist.”
Last month, abortion giant Planned Parenthood won a major legal victory in Indiana guaranteeing women the right to continue aborting their children based on the child’s sex, race or genetic condition, such as Down syndrome.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, an Obama appointee, issued a permanent injunction against Indiana’s “Sex Selective and Disability Abortion Ban,” declaring that provisions of the law “violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
HEA 1337 outlawed abortions based on the sex or race of the child or a prenatal diagnosis of “Down syndrome or any other disability,” leading Planned Parenthood and the ACLU to bring a lawsuit against the state.
In her ruling, Judge Pratt defended sex-selective and disability-based abortions, stating that “it is a woman’s right to choose an abortion that is protected, which, of course, leaves no room for the State to examine, let alone prohibit, the basis or bases upon which a woman makes her choice.”
“The right to a pre-viability abortion is categorical,” Pratt declared, regardless of the particular motivation that drives a woman to seek it.
Several weeks ago, President Donald Trump issued a powerful statement in the defense of people with Down syndrome, calling for an end to discrimination based on genetic anomalies.
“Sadly, there remain too many people – both in the United States and throughout the world – that still see Down syndrome as an excuse to ignore or discard human life,” Trump said in an official statement recognizing Down Syndrome Awareness Month. “This sentiment is and will always be tragically misguided. We must always be vigilant in defending and promoting the unique and special gifts of all citizens in need.”
“We should not tolerate any discrimination against them, as all people have inherent dignity,” the President added.
In his testimony Wednesday, Frank Stephens echoed these same reflections at the Capitol.
“Whatever you learn today, please remember this,” Mr. Stephens declared, “I am a man with Down syndrome and my life is worth living.”
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