Expectant parents can often view a diagnosis of fetal deformity or other form of birth defect almost as if it were death itself. Not as a physical death, but a death of hopes and dreams. Visions of a normal childhood – playing games, going to school, growing up and starting families of their own – vanish in a flash.

When abortion is used to solve the problem of a disability, it is discrimination of the most severe kind. These children are not merely discriminated against for their disability; they are killed because of it.

Abortions in these cases raise frightening prospects, for if it is all right to kill a disabled person in the womb, could it not someday be permissible to kill a disabled infant? A disabled adult?

Every human life is a gift from God. Caring for and loving a child with disabilities allows us to serve someone other than ourselves. It fosters patience, understanding and gratitude for the gifts we have been given. And it allows us to experience the joy of Christ whose life and death was total self-giving, unconditional love for each one of us.