Petition Request

Please Sign and Forward the Online Petition if you are a Parent of a Child with Down Syndrome or would like to support the rights of individuals with Down syndrome.

Click this link:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DS-advocacy

The text of the Petition that will be sent to the National Down Syndrome Society and the National Down Syndrome Congress on World Down Syndrome Day 3-21 March 21, 2008. The deadline to sign the petition is March 20, 2008.

Know that this is not about the legal right to an abortion, it is about the right for parents to have complete information in which to make a decision. That information is not currently provided for, and until our National Organizations advocate for the fetus by taking a stand with ACOG to educate their physicians on how to deliver the diagnosis with the proper BALANCED information parents will continue to be making decisions without all of the information they need.

The Petition reads:

We, parents of children with Down Syndrome are appalled and offended by the
discrimination that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) has shown in recommending prenatal screening for Down syndrome for
all pregnant women, regardless of age.

It is very well known that Down syndrome cannot be corrected in utero, and preparation emotionally could be a very valid reason for the prenatal testing of all women, but in reality, it is clear that the purpose of first trimester screening is not to provide time for parents to prepare for the birth of a child with Down syndrome, but to enable and encourage parents to terminate a pregnancy once a diagnosis of Down syndrome is obtained. Research has shown that ACOG has provided no education to the physicians on how to deliver a prenatal diagnosis, and has provided NO information on the life realities of raising a child with Down syndrome, and, as a result, the majority of expectant parents are being put in the position of having to make decisions regarding their unborn child based on inaccurate and unnecessarily negative information. This leads to the astronomical statistic of 90% of the babies being aborted! This is, quite simply, unacceptable.

The true purpose of ACOG's recommendation is to prejudicially eliminate babies with Down syndrome. We parents believe that the National Down Syndrome organizations need to take a stand on the abortion issue, not as it relates to the laws in our country, but as it relates to Down syndrome. Advocacy on behalf of individuals with Down syndrome needs to begin at conception, not at birth.