Bill Helps Protect Unborn with Disabilities
A measure designed to help reduce the number of abotions of children with disabilities by providing expectant mothers with more information and options has been sent to President Bush for his signature. The bill received bi-partisan from both Republicans and Democrats. Here's the story from Baptist Press:
WASHINGTON (BP)--A bill to protect the lives of unborn children diagnosed with disabilities has passed both chambers of Congress and is awaiting President Bush's signature.
The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D.-Mass., would provide support and balanced information to parents who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other condition prenatally or until a year after birth.
"One of the most difficult and vulnerable moments in the life of an expectant mother is when she learns she is going to have a child with a disability or medical condition," Brownback wrote in an opinion piece carried by National Review Online Sept. 30.
"Access to the best support and information about the condition can make all the difference to a woman and her family. Hopefully, our bill is the start of something new: real help for families, deepened respect for the value of every life -- especially those with disabilities -- and one step closer to the kind of America we all know is possible," Brownback wrote.
The Senate passed the bill Sept. 23, and the House passed it two days later in what Brownback said was "a great victory for expecting parents who learn that their unborn child may be born with a disability."
The bill requires parents who receive a diagnosis of an impairment for their child be provided with the latest information on the condition and be informed of support services available. It also would establish a registry of families willing to adopt special needs children.
Studies indicate that in the United States, between 80 and 90 percent of children diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome are aborted. A similar abortion percentage exists for unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida, cystic fibrosis and dwarfism, according to a release from Brownback's office.
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