Gov. Sarah Palin continued her pregnancy after learning that her son would be born with Down syndrome. That fact has become an important part of her public persona since Senator John McCain announced that she was his vice-presidential pick. And it got me wondering how much religion plays a role when families decide whether to proceed with Down syndrome pregnancies.
When Palin heard the diagnosis (after prenatal testing, reports People magazine), she said it was “very, very challenging,” confusing, and initially made her sad, according to an April article in the Anchorage Daily News. After she gave birth to Trig in April, the Daily News reports, she emailed a letter to friends and family, written in the voice of and signed, “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.” It read, in part: “Many people will express sympathy, but you don’t want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this.”
From that letter, it looks like Palin’s faith—she has called herself a nondenominational “Bible-believing Christian”—probably played a role in her family’s decision to continue the pregnancy. But what about other women?
I know from reading some of the heartrending posts on this forum for women who terminate pregnancies for medical reasons that no one takes the decision lightly. But I wanted to see if there was scientific data on whether religiously minded people are more likely to continue a Down syndrome pregnancy than others.
The first thing I found was that termination rates for prenatally diagnosed Down syndrome pregnancies are pretty high, though statistics vary. In a 1996 study in Hawaii, 84% of such pregnancies ended in termination. A California data set, also from 1996, showed a termination rate of 58%, while a 1999 study from Great Britain showed a 92% rate.
But rates of religious affiliation are similarly high—in the United States, at least. According to a 2008 survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, more than 80% of Americans identify with one religion or another, and even among the 16% who describe themselves as “unaffiliated,” a large majority say they believe in God. My unscientific conclusion from looking at these numbers? Many people who end pregnancies diagnosed with Down syndrome probably consider themselves to be religious or say they believe in God.
I called Laurie Zoloth, director of bioethics at Northwestern University’s Center for Genetic Medicine, for some perspective. She was quick to remind me that when it comes to pregnancy termination, not all religious beliefs point in the same direction. “Being a very religious person might lead you to think [pregnancy termination] is a necessary answer to a human situation,” she says.
The Catholic Church teaches that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception,” including cases involving Down syndrome or other abnormalities. Two-thirds of white evangelicals say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. And yet, many religious traditions have only recently begun to grapple with the tough choices families face after learning the results of prenatal tests.
American Muslim scholars, for example, offer no clear guidelines on terminating Down syndrome pregnancies, saying that individual families should consult religious and legal experts. Buddhists around the world disagree about abortion, but even one Tibetan Buddhist teacher who is strongly antiabortion also advises that decisions about abnormal pregnancies are ones “we make for ourselves.”
Zoloth, on a strictly anecdotal basis, says that she believes families who choose to continue with Down syndrome pregnancies are “disproportionately” religious, coming from strong Christian or Jewish backgrounds. But John Evans, a sociologist of religion at the University of California at San Diego, tells me there is no data on this point, in part because ethics panels would veto studies that involve asking such sensitive questions.
Talking with Zoloth and Evans confirmed for me what is obvious from reading individual stories of families who have faced Down syndrome pregnancies: The decision to continue with the pregnancy—or not—is a complex and profound one, with many factors coming into play. And as one Catholic mother writes, you don’t always feel the way you expect to when faced with the question of termination.
“I think for many people, [a Down syndrome pregnancy] is a critical test of your own capacities and sense of life’s meaning and values,” Zoloth says. “Many people make those decisions by recourse to their religion, but not all. Many make recourse to other sources of faith, and perhaps their own sense of humanity.”
No matter what the guidance from our own belief systems or personal convictions, it is a choice that may surprise us if we ever have to face it.
(PHOTO: DAYLIFE.COM)
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Comments (23)
Some responsible, educated adults show restraint and maturity by using birth-control in our sexually active very early and later years because we know that statistically, there is a very large chance of problems with a pregnancy at this time of life. The grown-up responsible, adult and humane thing to do is to abstain, or indulge with appropriate protection. The Palin girls apparently do neither, and can only be counted as callous and careless, if not downright ignorant! A girl of 17 should be in school looking at a future and a career in this day and age sexually active or otherwise! A woman of 40+ should know enough to not get in trouble! Contraception is the most humane way to avoid abortion and unfortunate little lives of suffering. I wish these “red-neck broads” would grow up and show some personal responsibility instead of prancing their asses in front of the cameras because they have been told that they are ‘cute’ Lots of girls are winsome, most of them are more discrete and show more self-respect! God help America, we need it at times like these,Lord, an old goat and a bawdy broad wanting to run the show in Washington.
Everyone has a right to live in sickness and in health.
I guess we become better humans in caring and comforting the weak. Build inner character.
You cannot know with certainty what you will do unless you are faced with a situation. Keep that in mind when you judge people who have made a decision that you think you could never make. If I had a dime for every time I heard someone say “I would never terminate” and then they go on to terminate when faced with a severe fetal anomaly, I would be a very wealthy person.
interesting investigating…
i find her writing as if she were the voice of God a bit disturbing… but i’ll just add that one to the growing list :)
thanks!
Dear Uncle B: Sarah Palin only advocates for teaching abstinence to kids in school, not anything about contraception!
Tracey, likewise, you cannot assume that someone’s decision not to terminate a pregnancy makes them a “pro-lifer”. I’m sure many parents, and I’m one of them, are pro-choice and also decided not to terminate. We cannot paint all people with one broad brush, which the Republicans are trying to do.
I’d like to know what the statistics are on adults with Down Syndrome expressing wishes that their parents had terminated them?
Ms. Palin finds little Trig “challenging?” Did she ever consider how challenging it might be to Trig? It’s tough to understand why, when she knew it was Down Syndrome, she didn’t abort.
Women across the planet abort spontaneously on the hour, defective fetus’s. She could have had an abortion, then conceived a healthy baby.
This is so selfish on her part, to bring this so-called “child” onto the planet.
tina;
A person who has never been born has no opinion or preference on whether they’d “like” to be born. Once a person is alive, of course they are glad about it. But before they are alive, there’s no such thing as “wanting” to be alive. An unborn person can’t regret or lament not having life, because that person doesn’t exist. A friend of mine once said, “If my mom had an abortion, I wouldn’t even exist!” And that’s a true statement. If your mom hadn’t had a twinkle in her eye so many years ago, you wouldn’t exist. If your mom had used birth control, you wouldn’t exist. If your mom hadn’t gone to the same school as your dad, you wouldn’t exist. We make choices every day that affect the future in wild and unpredictable ways - this is not an effective argument against abortion.
Ms Palin is living a very busy life at the moment, so I doubt that she is the one that is constantly there for her little son. Im pretty sure she got professional help there day and night. So how can she compare her self to others which are not as rich as she is!!!
yes it’s going to be a challenge for Palin, and a challenge for Trig. However I must bring up the point that life challenges all of us in different ways… Life isn’t easy for any of us. Mrs. Palin and Trig each have their own individual hardships that they must deal with, thats just what life dishes out. And the fact that She and her family are celebrating life, despite the hardships it brings, instead of just getting rid of it gives me hope for the people that inhabit this world. just because you don’t think that a baby should be brought into this world, for whatever reason, does not give you the right to take the chance of life away from it. That is not a judgment call you are qualified to make. if your child was in a horrible accident and got severe brain damage would you kill him just because his life would be hard? That is not your life to take, it does not belong to you!!!
We didn’t know for sure if our son had Downs until he was 5 days old (his biggest ’symptoms’ were his muscle hypotonia or floppiness and a birth defect of duodenal atresia), we had the opportunity to get to know first our baby not the Downs. He is the joy of our family and for many people in our community.
I can’t imagine our lives without him.
beatty ~
You are wrong. There are many people who sincerely wish they’d never been born. I know because I’m one of them. Even my mother realized that she should never have allowed herself to become pregnant, considering the situation she would be bringing a child into.
Understand, she loved me more than life itself, but she did realize that it would have been better for me if she hadn’t brought me into the world. I’ve always agreed with her.
I wish my mother had continued using birth control. I’m now 64 years old. I’ve suffered various physical problems - back pain and headaches among others - ALL my life. I have subtle developmental deficits that make it impossible for me to do what others take for granted. Although everyone perceives me as intelligent, I know the reality. I’ve had Major Depressive Disorder/Anxiety Disorder ALL my life.
My father did not want me, and he always made that fact abundantly clear. I never committed suicide because of what it would have done to my mother and because I was raised in a fundamentalist church where people who commit suicide go to HELL. Although I continue to wonder how that hell could be worse than the hell my life has been, I’ve never quite been able to take the chance - yet.
Never assume things you don’t really know anything about.
DSMom, I’ll take the Republican position that a baby is worth defending and stay away from people on your side like Uncle B and Terry , who I swear sounds alot like Nazi Germany early 1940s. DS Dad
CJ, She has a stay at home husband to care for her children. Now Biden going to the Senate after his wife’s death and leaving his two little boys home while he commuted 1 1/2 hours each way to spend LONG days at the his job. What do you think of him??
i have a cuzin who has downsindram
it is sad but as they get older
they nmoe more then we noe
they understandthings to
“The fact is — whatever one’s political views on abortion — the only thing abortion prevents is the continuation of a life that already exists.”
How to Beat Leaky Gut Syndrome
Terry, as the father of a daughter with Down syndrome, I find your comments both disturbing and repugnant. Are you implying that a “so called child” with Down syndrome is any less of a human being than you or I, with an incredible capacity to love, and contribute to the betterment of society? Children born with Down syndrome today face a far better life than those born a generation ago. Thankfully, most DS children today are raised in loving homes instead of being shipped off to institutions. I have seen the difference, and it is amazing. People with Down syndrome can live independently, hold down jobs, and yes, some are even going on to college. Before you make such ignorant comments about other human beings, maybe you should do some research, or better still, get to know someone with Down syndrome. I know for a fact that my life is better because I have had the opportunity to love my child.
Uncle B, here’s some shocking info: While, yes, it is true that DS statistically higher in children born to older mothers, the fact is, there are more younger parents with children who have DS simply because they are having more children! Again, get your facts straight.
Michael, Thank you for your insight and the love you give your child. My daughter will teach me something that no other on this planet could and that is unconditional love. She is the joy of my life and EVERYDAY when I wake and look in on her I thank God for trusting me with such a beautiful human being.
Uncle B, a friend of mine had a down syndrome son at the age of 19. You my friend are an idiot.
I think the biggest thing scaring the abortion crowd is that people will see through the spot light of Sarah Palin’s son that DS children are not some hideous unloveable creature but caring loving and full of life. That could hurt your abortiion postion that causes approx 90% of diagnosed DS pregnancies to abort.
terry, uncle B, and CJ,
What right do you have to judge ANYONE else on anything? when you say that people Should commit infanticide simply because it would be convenient, and that they are stupid for not doing so, you are attacking, not only their decisions, but their morals, beliefs, and who they are. It is just hateful to attack those who value, and regard life, and don’t think only of themselves.
I feel the decision to keep the foetus with abnormalities or conceived after rape completely depends on the parents, their financial status, their age and the rape victim.
I wouldnt praise laurels for the ones who keep the baby or who abort it for medical reasons.
If I were to conceive a abnormal foetus, I would decide to terminate it because I know after I die who will take care of that baby? Thinking of that would make me sick even on my death bed. Plus financially I wouldnt have afforded the much needed care for that baby.
This is just my humble opinion. Like I said I shall not praise laurels of the ones who are prolife or the ones who terminate for medical or rape reasons.
Having just terminated a 20 week Downs baby, I can personally tell you that very many very religious Jews have done the same thing, with the support and actual rabbinical decision and encouragement of very Orthodox rabbis. Judaism is not the black and white religion that Christianity is– we believe that the emotional and physical well-being of the mother far outweighs that of a fetus who we don’t believe is truly a person until it emerges from the mother’s body.
Thanks for writing, Sharon. Sometimes the “black and white” aspects of religion makes the headlines more often than nuanced decisions like the one you write about here. Thanks for your honesty.
It’s so popular to be caring and open-hearted and applaud families who welcome seriously disabled children into their lives. But how many of those who think no fetus should be aborted are willing to spend a week of their personal lives, living and caring for a seriously disabled person 24/7?
Now imagine having to care for a seriously disabled person 365 days/year, round-the-clock.
You wind up relinquishing your own right to life, freedom and happiness. Your life becomes a blur of care-giving.