Down Syndrome Babies Are Precious To God

 And They Should Be Precious to Us, Too!


For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

~Psalm 139, verses 13-16 (ESV)

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What is Down Syndrome?

Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small “packages” of genes in the body. They determine how a baby’s body forms and functions as it grows during pregnancy and after birth. Typically, a baby is born with 46 chromosomes. Babies with Down syndrome have an extra copy of one of these chromosomes, chromosome 21. A medical term for having an extra copy of a chromosome is ‘trisomy.’ Down syndrome is also referred to as Trisomy 21. This extra copy changes how the baby’s body and brain develop, which can cause both mental and physical challenges for the baby.

How common is Down syndrome?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in every 772 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome, making Down syndrome the most common chromosomal condition. About 5,100 babies with Down syndrome are born in the United States each year. (De Graaf et al., 2022).
Source: About Down Syndrome | National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)

Abortion rates

About 92% of pregnancies in Europe with a diagnosis of Down syndrome are terminated.[21] As a result, there is almost no one with Down syndrome in Iceland and Denmark, where screening is commonplace.[114] In the United States, the termination rate after diagnosis is around 75%,[114] but varies from 61 to 93%, depending on the population surveyed.[20] Rates are lower among women who are younger and have decreased over time.[20] When asked if they would have a termination if their fetus tested positive, 23–33% said yes, when high-risk pregnant women were asked, 46–86% said yes, and when women who screened positive are asked, 89–97% say yes.[115]

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Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 
If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
~Proverbs 24, verses 11, 12 (ESV )


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