Palin Shifts Paradigm by Embracing Son with Disability

[Rev. John & Tabitha Pike]

Unconditional acceptance of Trig has illuminated the stark differences between the culture of life and the culture of death.'

Decades ago, a different presidential election was under way. The candidate's sister had a disability, and was kept hidden from the public eye.

Rosemary Kennedy, the younger sister of John F. Kennedy, was slow mentally. At age 23, her father took her in for a lobotomy — a surgical separation of the brain. It left her incapacitated, prompting her move to an institution. Just a few people knew the truth about what had happened.

Today, there is another candidate. And another relative with a disability.

But Gov. Sarah Palin is not keeping hidden her baby son, Trig — who has Down syndrome. She calls him "beautiful" and "perfect."

In the past, individuals with disabilities may have been pushed to the wayside of society. Today, an estimated 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.

"This is properly called eugenic abortion — the ending of 'imperfect' lives to remove the social, economic and emotional costs of their existence," writes Michael Gerson, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former assistant to President Bush. "And this practice cannot be separated from the broader social treatment of people who have disabilities. By eliminating less perfect humans, deformity and disability become more pronounced and less acceptable. Those who escape the net of screening are often viewed as mistakes or burdens."

Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow in human rights and bioethics at the Discovery Institute, said the Palins are changing the paradigm.

"Their unconditional acceptance of Trig has illuminated the stark differences between the culture of life and the culture of death," he told CitizenLink. "The culture of life claims unequivocally that there is no such thing as 'them.' There is only us. This is in stark contrast to the culture of death, which accepts a ‘quality of life’ ethic that denigrates some people as having lesser value than others based on their capacities.

"Let us hope the bad old days when people like Trig were hidden away, as if their existence was a cause for shame, are gone forever.”

Smith said the Palins' public example to welcome their son with joy could help others make a similar decision to choose life.

"If we accept the sheer importance of being human," he wrote on his blog, "then we can embrace each of us as wonderful and equal members of the human family."

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