Thursday, September 23, 2021

Are you genetically superior?

Can you imagine not having been born? Probably not. Yet every year thousands of pregnancies are being terminated. In a few scenario's I can understand why: when the pregnancy is life threatening to the mother, and when she was raped but other than that? No. Still: 90 Percent of all British parents end the pregnancy when they find out their child will be born with Down's syndrome. 

In The United States of America around 70 percent of infants with Down's are never born. Because their parents don't want them to. Apparently parents want 'the perfect child'. Of course you want your child to be healthy and happy. But kids with Down's cán be happy and healthy. If given a chance that is.

There was an article that said Icelandic parents are the worst and abort 100% of all foetuses with Down's. It was in an American newspaper. So for the most part untrue

However, the fact remains that in most countries women (it's seldom the father who chooses) can decide if they find a defect reason enough to end a pregnancy. 

Do we really want a world without people with all kind of shortcomings? A world without Stephen Hawking, Frida Kahlo, Andrea Bocelli and all those other people who are considered 'handicapped' but also inspired so many others to overcome disabilities and give the world so much in art, science, sports? Who decided that people with disabilities aren't fully functioning human beings and should be terminated?

Who are we to decide who lives and who dies? 

I know and have known several people with several kinds of disabilities. None of them I consider sub-human. Yet society does. Why do you think that society only wants some kind of 'Übermensch' to walk the Earth? And isn't that one of the things we hated the Nazis for?

Here's what I think of people (not just men) who think they are more worthy of life because they are 'genetically superior':



Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

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