Modern medicine has found many ways to test for problems with unborn children. This is a good thing. It allows for prenatal diagnosis, treatment, and even surgery to address medical issues for babies in the womb. But it also has some diabolical consequences — like the fact that about 90% of unborn children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted.

90%

If you happen to be among those who don’t think that’s a problem — who don’t think that’s a sad and horrendous injustice — I give you Karen Gaffney. Karen can speak for herself but, before you listen to what she has to say, let me give you a few facts about Ms. Gaffney:

• Karen is 38 years old
• Karen is president of the Karen Gaffney Foundation which is funded in part by honorariums she receives for her public speaking engagements (like the one below)
• Karen has swum across Lake Tahoe, Boston Harbor, and 16 times across San Francisco Bay
• Karen is a graduate of the University of Portland
• Karen received and honorary doctorate in 2013
• Karen advocates for people with Down Syndrome
• Karen “rocks the extra chromosome”

I realize that Karen is unique because she represents a “high functioning” case of Down Syndrome and I am in no way attempting to represent her as the norm. And let me be clear that I don’t tout Karen’s success story and inspirational life as the reason to oppose abortion.

My point is simply that the pro-life cause has its foundation in the idea that all members of the human family are valuable, not because of what they do, but because of who they are — human beings made in the image of God.

Karen is an exceptional human being and she would still be an exceptional human being if she didn’t have Down Syndrome. She is proof that all human beings are valuable. Let’s pray that her message reaches far and wide as an example of the value of every human life and that Karen’s story becomes a cry that will awaken those who would have never given her the chance to prove it.