Today is the first ever World Birth Defects Day. At the March for Life, we celebrate and honor children who are diagnosed with or born with differences!
An estimated 8 million babies worldwide are born with a serious birth defect. The March for Life 2015 theme is “Every Life is a Gift,” with a special focus on preborn babies who are diagnosed in the womb with a fetal abnormality, or birth defect. Tragically, studies reveal that in the United States, approximately 85% of these special little ones are aborted. The national abortion average is approximately 20%. Any abortion is one too many, but these precious children are being eradicated through abortion.
Raising a child is not easy, and raising a child with a disability poses many unique challenges and additional costs. However, life is inherently valuable and worth is not determined by what an individual contributes to society. Furthermore, while there is still a long way to go, we have made great strides in protecting and improving the quality of life for individuals with birth defects or disabilities.
Our society and culture reflect the dangerous idea that life must be “perfect” to be worth living. Tragically, many birth defects that can be corrected through surgery are viewed as reason to terminate the life of a child. According to the London Telegraph, unborn babies with cleft palate or club feet are aborted up to the day of birth in Britain.
In 2012, 2,692 foetuses were aborted on the grounds that there was a “substantial risk” that the babies would be “seriously handicapped”. Of those, 160 took place after 24 weeks of gestation.
In a debate in Parliament, Mrs Ellison pointed to evidence that conditions such as a cleft lip and palate could be “an indicator of far more serious problems”.
However, she said: “Concerns have been expressed… that abortions are taking place for abnormalities that are rectifiable after birth.”
We must continue to spread the truth that every life is a gift. And even more so, we need to take action to care for children with disabilities, and to provide parents expecting a baby with a birth defect with the resources they need. For resources for families with children with disabilities, please click HERE.
Here is something you can do – we recently saw a preview of a documentary film called “The Drop Box Film,” about a Pastor in South Korea who rescues babies abandoned after birth, and we highly recommend you see it! In a world that emphasizes the need to be perfect, the Drop Box Film gets to the heart of love, life, and the unique giftedness of every human being, and the story is a perfect embodiment of our 2015 March for Life theme, “Every Life is a Gift.” The Drop Box Film will be in movie theaters nationwide for a limited three-night engagement, March 3, 4, and 5. Get your tickets today: TheDropBoxFilm.com.
