The Patriot Post® · Gerber Underscores the Plight of Down Syndrome Sufferers

In 2016, Hillary Clinton demeaned her political adversaries — the tens of millions of Americans who would refuse to vote for her — by famously declaring them “deplorables.” Sadly, there’s another group of people the Left not only belittles but considers inhuman and unneeded. In cultural parlance, they’re deemed “abortables.” That term encapsulates many different groups of children — blacks and other minorities, for example, upon whom Planned Parenthood preys, just as its founder intended — but especially babies who will be born with Down syndrome, assuming they’re even afforded the chance of escaping the womb alive.

One of the saddest examples of this is in Iceland. There, CBS News recently reported, “Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women — close to 100 percent — who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy.” The rate isn’t much better elsewhere. In the U.S., 67% of pre-birth babies whom doctors suspect have Down syndrome are aborted. That number climbs to 77% in France and a near-universal 98% in Denmark.

Leftists justify these abhorrent abortion rates under the guise of saving these babies (and their families) from hardship. As Landspitali University Hospital counselor Helga Sol Olafsdottir quite tellingly explained, “We don’t look at abortion as a murder. We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication … preventing suffering for the child and for the family.” But who in this world doesn’t face suffering in some form or another? Aborting children with Down syndrome is merely an excuse for avoiding responsibility, and, ironically, it causes suffering. Nobody wants cancer, or a chronic disease, or a broken family, but when those things strike, the solution is to deal with them, not to bury them (quite literally in this case).

Thankfully, Down syndrome kids are being provided a much-needed spotlight thanks to Gerber. This week, Lucas Warren, one-and-a-half years old, became the company’s “2018 Gerber Spokesbaby.” He differs from all past honorees in that he has Down syndrome. His endearing portrait and adorable persona didn’t just beat out other nominees; they also illustrated that the sanctity of life extends to every single baby regardless of what hardship they will face. Just one look at him and you can’t help but smile yourself.

Gerber president Bill Partyka made an interesting observation when he stated, “Every year, we choose the baby who best exemplifies Gerber’s long-standing heritage of recognizing that every baby is a Gerber baby. This year, Lucas is the perfect fit.” Let’s hope and pray that someday the whole world will realize that every baby with Down syndrome is the perfect fit, and they have the same dignity and value as anyone else.

(Edited.)