You need to watch this video

We recently came across this beautiful video about a little boy named Eliot. Watch it here. Be prepared though, it made me cry like a baby and it'll probably do the same for you. Eliot was born with Trisomy 18, a disorder which causes many complications and typically children only live a short time. Unfortunately though, Eliot is a statistical miracle, because children with these disorders rarely even survive the pregnancy, they are aborted.

As if abortion rates aren't awful enough (I was SHOCKED by the rate of abortion among Christians and Catholics according to that page), the rates of abortion when the baby has a chromosomal disorder are even higher. According to Physicians for Life, when a fetus has been diagnosed as having a chromosomal disorder such as Trisomy 18 or Down Syndrome, 90% of the time that baby will be aborted. Often these babies are not conceived out of wedlock or because of rape, incest or danger to the mother (other common reasons for abortion, and not ones I think are valid, by the way). These babies are simply "not perfect." Will someone please tell me how this is okay in our culture? It's okay to be "born gay" but not okay to be born with a different style of learning or potential? How is this not considered discrimination? Furthermore, what's makes people think this will stop at chromosomal disorders, and will eventually include other undesirable attributes a baby may have, like red hair or pimples (presuming the technology would allow those kinds of attributes to be determined in utero)?

This is one of the many reasons the McCain/Palin ticket is attractive to me come November. Sarah Palin has a son with Down Syndrome and supports policies that are accepting and compassionate. How can we have a "perfect" world if all the "imperfect" people aren't even with us??