David Eastman: Where have all the girls with Down syndrome gone?

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By REP. DAVID EASTMAN

Author’s Note: By now you probably heard that I was condemned by the Alaska House last week for asking a question in a committee. This is part one in a two-part series. In part one below, I highlight how the science of prenatal testing is being used to target the most vulnerable members of our society. In part two, I will unpack the profoundly disturbing presentation on prenatal testing we received in committee last week and the question I asked at the end of it. It’s a story the Left is hoping you never hear, and an unedited video of the conversation they hope you never watch.

I can’t remember exactly how far into my 10 years in the military I first noticed. It was definitely not in my first year. I just remember looking around one day and thinking how rare it was to ever see someone who was overweight. It’s not that the military hates the obese, but those who are so usually get sifted out.

As a freshman at West Point, I remember meeting a senior who was being sent home. He was a good student, but try as he might the size of his neck just didn’t match his height according to the Army, so they sent him home. It wasn’t personal. It just worked out that everyone else received a commission, and he didn’t.

At the height of the Covid pandemic, The Atlantic published a story on prenatal testing (“The Last Children of Down Syndrome: Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn’t. This is just the beginning.“). It is well worth the read. Caution: If you happen to know someone with Down syndrome, it may bring tears.

The story highlights the impact of prenatal testing, with a focus on Denmark. Denmark’s genetic program got started with the goal of “improving the health of a nation by preventing the birth of those deemed to be burdens on society.”

Yes, it was a eugenics program. Denmark began prenatal testing for Down Syndrome in the 1970s. At the time, “it was discussed in the context of saving money—as in, the testing cost was less than that of institutionalizing a child with a disability for life.”

Since then, the marketing has changed. The program now claims “to offer women a choice.” Denmark was the first country to make free prenatal testing for Down syndrome available universally. When it did, the number of Down Syndrome live births crashed. Today, 98% of children thought to have Down syndrome are aborted in Denmark. In Iceland, that number approaches 100%, with only one or two children born with Down syndrome each year.

Down syndrome isn’t a fatal diagnosis. At least, until the advent of prenatal testing, it didn’t used to be. The average life expectancy of a person with Down syndrome (if their life is not cut short in the womb) is 60 years and climbing.

But that is only if they can make it to the outside world. In America, more than two-thirds of those who test positive for Down syndrome in the womb are aborted. Notice, I said “test positive.” I did not say those who actually have Down syndrome.

Most initial prenatal tests simply provide a statistical likelihood that a child will have Down syndrome. Sometimes healthy children are aborted out of fear of Down syndrome, and sometimes children that pass the test turn out to have it.

It is not that a particular test was accurate and the child later developed Down syndrome. As a genetic condition, a child either has Down syndrome from the moment of conception, or he or she does not. There isn’t anything a mother can do during pregnancy to increase or decrease the risk of her child having Down syndrome. In fact, other than the fact that a child with an older mother is at greater risk, Down syndrome is essentially random in a population, which is why the widespread disappearance of Down syndrome children is never an accident.

Some might be tempted to see the disappearance of Down syndrome in society as progress toward a better, healthier society. But we are not curing or reducing the number of people who develop Down syndrome. They are simply being sifted out, not unlike the way the military excludes the obese.

The unpleasant truth is that it is a great deal easier to be an inclusive society when you have first excluded many of those whom it might be difficult to include.

To be disabled, to have Down syndrome (or any disability), you must first, in fact, be alive. You must first have a future before you (or society) can be ”saved” from that future. You must first have a life before that life can be cut short.

In American society, the decision of whether that life will be cut short is often said to be a “choice” a mother must make. Alternately, the U.S. Supreme Court recently declared it a political question to be decided by state legislators. In fact, it is neither.

I think of each of the people I have known with Down syndrome. One trait that each of them seem to share is a complete and utter absence of guile. They don’t begin by wanting to know how much money you make or the type of clothes you wear. I think Carter Snead summed it up best in saying, when they meet you for the first time what they want to know is “can you love?”

We are told that the world somehow receives a benefit from Down syndrome testing and the resulting disappearance of so many Down syndrome children from society, but I can only see the loss.

To reduce someone to a single aspect of their life based on such a test, and to then judge the worthiness of their life based on that alone, surely reflects our incredible capacity as human beings to be so profoundly inhumane to one another.

Prior to the repeal of Roe v. Wade, Missouri responded to the targeting of Down syndrome children by passing a law that prohibits aborting a child due to Down syndrome. In passing that law, Missouri had to overcome the strenuous public opposition of Planned Parenthood. Likewise, Planned Parenthood has publicly condemned similar laws passed in Ohio, Nebraska and Indiana.

The use of prenatal testing to remove unborn children from society has been especially tragic for girls. Girls with Down syndrome have, not one, but two strikes against them simply for the fact that they are girls. Today, the number of boys with Down syndrome outnumber girls to a greater degree than men outnumbered women in China at the height of China’s one-child policy. (see Newsweek: Sex Selection Abortions Are Rife in the U.S.”)

Eleven states, and several countries, have made it illegal to abort a child due to the child’s sex. Countries like South Korea have even gone so far as to make it illegal for doctors to share prenatal testing results with parents, in order to to prevent parents from using that information to abort the child.

In Alaska, it is completely legal to abort a child because she is a girl.

It is completely legal to abort a child because she has Down syndrome.

In fact, it is completely legal to abort a child because she is too short, has brown eyes, or for any other reason, up to the very moment of birth.

This is the reality that anyone who would advocate for the lives of children in Alaska must face today. And this is the legal landscape in which the Alaska Children’s Trust came before the House Judiciary Committee last week and shared a truly disturbing vision for the future of prenatal testing in Alaska.

Instead of “prenatal” they prefer the term “preborn,” and instead of “testing” they prefer the word “scoring,” but the plan to predict a child’s success in adulthood from even before they take their first breath on this earth remains fully intact.

In part two of this series I will unpack their presentation and the question and answer session that followed.

Rep. David Eastman serves in the Alaska Legislature, representing Wasilla.

77 COMMENTS

  1. Gattica here we come…
    That is so sad people want to abort babies when they aren’t perfect medically. ?
    Then they want to destroy their bodies with medication like Lupron that’s shuts off their endocrine system which makes them a a slave to big pharma. ??‍♀️

    • A true conservative would know you can’t regulate morality, that’s handled at a much higher level. But we all know most Conservatives are just power hungry liars

  2. One of my starkest memories during visits to Asia involved Down Syndrome. I recall (joyfully) evening walks around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi, seeing families out including children with Down, some walking, but also one particular mother pushing her probably pre-teen in a wheelchair. I worked in villages where children and adults with Down worked aside others in shops and fields. On my visits to China, I saw none.
    Back here, two of my most respected acquaintances had Down. Both worked as adults in regular jobs in stores, one working 20 plus years, even while carrying his oxygen tank. Sadly, he paid into our system for which he will never collect, dying recently.
    Are we sapient humans or not? Have we any altruism and compassion for our fellow beings or do we live only to pursue our hedonistic desires? Looking around, I cannot answer. Thankfully movies such as ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ and ‘Champions’ (of which I have only seen the trailer) at least acknowledge the existence of those born not part of ‘the pretty people.’
    One of my books (still seeking publisher) features a young boy with Down Syndrome growing up in the 60s. David, I would happily share it with you for an evening read.

  3. The coldest cruelty is often disguised as an effort to make things normal. We shrug since normality will prevent us from facing truth. New life is precious and without measure.

    • My father had to shut down his construction business and put 12 men out of work after one of his employees decided to bring an abnormal fetus to term. The medical costs of taking care of a vegetable raised his insurance premiums to where he could no longer stay in business.

      • The hell you say, Frank.

        The ‘cost’ over and above any supposed ‘insurance’ your father paid and provided for would be borne out by the employee, not his employer, unless your father somehow took an insurance plan that took over ALL costs unto EVERY employee without his employee’s fiscal contribution unto said insurance plan.

        I call bull hockey on this claim.

        • A viable insurance plan caps out of pocket costs for the employee, your post indicates your lack of small businees knowledge. A larger business can get a catastrophic policy rider, that was not available to my father

      • At the time, “it was discussed in the context of saving money—as in, the testing cost was less than that of institutionalizing a child with a disability for life.”
        Ya, I have noticed the price of vegetables has gone up.

  4. Thank you, David. For explaining the discussion and why it’s important. Too often, “news” is reduced to a headline or a ten-second sound bite. The problems we face – particularly in the reproductive choice area – are exceedingly complex and multi-faceted. I look forward to reading your follow-up and learning the Paul Harvey “rest of the story.”

  5. It’s sad that this guy has so many fooled into thinking that he’s a conservative. This guy is the singular most effective liberal progressive leftist Democrat in the legislature. He has spent his political career destroying conservatism at every move, time and time again. He’s turned the legislature over to Democrats everytime he’s been given the chance. He’s made a mockery of conservative causes, just like he has here. Anytime there is a vote to advance conservative causes this guy uses abortion to sidetrack the issue and once again advance the liberal cause. He uses abortion as a cover.

    If girls with down syndrome or abortion was the point he was trying to make, why didn’t he make it when he was asked for clarification on his idiotic remarks, why has it taken over a week and after being censured? In his idiotic questioning of Alaska Children’s Trust during the the House Judiciary Committee that took place well over a week ago, wouldn’t that have been the time and place to question them about the concerns voice here? Or maybe during his censure, that also seems like it would have been a good time to address it. No, not for a liberal progressive leftist whose cause is to get name recognition and teardown the conservative cause at every turn. This guy uses a single issue to rally people that he clearly enjoys deliberatly misrepresenting.

    • He’s an opportunist ass. For some reason he’s also the choice of his district.

      I’ve often wondered how much he could have done if he stopped being a grandstanding troll.

      • A wonderful answer to a question I did not ask. As to SteveO’s obviously excessive anger, what, exactly, is he compensating for?

        Moreover, there was an historical figure, known as a voice in the wilderness, harkening truth to the people. Eventually his head was delivered to the queen. However, his name is entered into the book of life. Those who speak the truth will be persecuted.

        I caution you guys… about persecuting this man.

        • Wayne,
          Why do you feel the need to resort to ad hominem attacks, I get that you can’t defend the indefensible but there’s no reason to make this about me. This is about a legislator who has done his best to misrepresent the people he has fooled into voting for him. Can you please let us all know what it is that Representative Eastman has actually accomplished with his time in the legislature to further the conservative cause? He’s handed the house to the Democrats how many times? Last year he was responsible for denying every single Alaskan a statutory PFD to the benefit of government spending.

    • Steve-O, we have disagreed on issues in the past, but my professional background causes me to wholeheartedly agree with your post. The author discusses numbers from overseas, but not a single proven case from Alaska is mentioned. Still, we are supposed to believe that this is the most pressing issue in Alaska. David, your only job is to pass a budget, which includes a statutory PFD. You continue to fail in this task. As a member of the uniparty, you are employing a tactic that I learned while serving as a commissioned officer in the army… diversion. Stop the smoke and mirrors, just do the job required of you by the state constitution.

      • DWI,
        Yeah, I guess you could say Representative Eastman is very much a RINO. He is and has been the most effective liberal progressive leftist Democrat in the legislature.

    • Mrs. N,
      The hall mark of a free society is that it holds life sacred. Everyone’s life.

      Turns out that if life loses its sanctity within a society, bad sh*t starts coming down upon that society.
      And speaking of “science”, it seems that a bunch of jackass’s have made a mockery of ” Science” these last couple of years, especially Government Scientists who actually claimed to be’ the Science.

      • As well, I’ve noticed the intelligent creatures of this world value even the most vulnerable of their species. I just don’t see that hearsay is adequate for scientific reporting unless the object of study is the role of hearsay and propaganda in human society.

        As for Mr Eastman, his name has come up in all sorts of national reporting. One wonders if he’s in business to make a name for himself, or to represent folks in the interest of Alaska and his direct constituents.

    • I think a lot of what he says could be true, but I agree that a few references would make it much more believable.

    • On March 1, 2021, Dr. Tara Sander Lee testified to the South Dakota Senate Health and Human Services Committee concerning HB 1110, which was South Dakota’s version of the bill passed in Missouri, Ohio and elsewhere.

      Her full written testimony with citations can be found here: ‘https://lozierinstitute.org/written-testimony-of-dr-tara-sander-lee-on-south-dakotas-hb-1110-to-prohibit-abortions-due-to-down-syndrome/

      • The testimony that is referred to by the physician in SD implicates all those with Trisomy 21, not just males or females. How does this tie in with testimony by Mr Eastman that has been widely reported all over the USA about child abuse and deaths?

    • The man is an a–, but he is entitled to his opinion.

      Besides, the party of science has bastardized science so much proof is in the eyes of the beholder.

      It’s what your side wanted. Do hate the player for outplaying you.

  6. Mr. Eastman, your column is clearly a testament to moral integrity. However, let me suggest a philosophical conundrum for your consideration. Let us assume, for discussion only, that instead of 1 in 700 babies, the incidence of Down Syndrome was 350 in 700; or half of all births. Clearly, our culture would collapse under the difficulties. In a sense, the low natural incidence is a form of revelation as described in Corinthians 10:13. There is definitely a purpose for Down Syndrome people in our culture; and, our Creator provides no more, or no less, of them than needed to fulfill His purpose. They have human value the same as we all do…. as you have so aptly pointed out.

    • Why should a greater number of disabilities in society in the future create a philosophical conundrum, unless there is an a priori commitment to the virtues of the status quo in society?

      Perhaps the question to ask would be, “what particular aspect of our modern society is so commendable as to justify eugenics in order to maintain it?” (rhetorical)

      Likewise, one can lament climate change, but before doing so one must first plant the proverbial stake in the ground at some date in human history and decide that that date is the date after which change is undesirable, because climate has never been static. It has always changed and will continue to do so despite mankind’s best efforts to prevent that change.

      Not making a point here about the virtue or lack of virtue of contemporary society or the contemporary climate; simply pointing out that trying to hold society at some ideal balance of abled vs. disabled is just as arbitrary as trying to hold back climate change, and if one attempts to do so using eugenics you quickly fall into a moral pit.

      • The real question Dave is how much each Down Syndrome abortion saves Taxpayers, I know you have a real interest in that type of calculation Dave. Perhaps it’s even more then the $1.5 million a murdered abused child saves. Hey you know just asking questions to save the Alaskan taxpayer money and getting back closer to that full PFD.

        • How much? Down Syndrome adults who I know work. They hold productive jobs, earn money and pay taxes into a system where they will likely never collect their earned benefits. Most of the leeches I see on the government teat are fully able-bodied adults who likely never made a productive day in their lives, nor ever will.

      • Fact: if 50% of humans were born with Down Syndrome rather than the 0.14% rate in reality, then our culture would cease to exist. My point is, the birth rate of Down Syndrome is precisely what God needs to fulfill His purposes, which seems to include showing us what true love looks like.

      • As a constitutional expert you are aware the privacy clause in the Alaska Constitution keeps government out of the doctor patient relationship and decision making. I believe your opinions are called a non-starter, or irrelevant in layman terms

  7. Just remember when we die we will have perfect bodies, a resurrected body unlike this birth body 1st corinth 15: 35-58. No one would be self-criticizing nor discriminating. You know what its those imperfections used so the works of God might be displayed through them in us john 9:1-5.

  8. Thank you for writing this, Rep. Eastman. And thank you, Suzanne, for publishing it.

    “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” ― Mother Theresa of Calcutta

  9. Sad that there are those that post with the intent of character attack rather than simply reading an article. There is much in Juneau going on that we have no clue about and to make assumptions is presumptuous. As for the ‘eugenics’ eliminating downs babies, you can find all kinds of info with a simple search – it is not ‘new’ news. The article above is an article, not an academic treatise requiring APA or MLA citing. Just read it and form your opinions, or do your own homework, but keep the character assassinations to yourselves. Please.

    • I would like to echo Ms. Henrys’ comment. It is so sad to see so many commenters who apparently have nothing better to do than denigrate others. Many times with absolutely no basis for their slanderous comments. Twisting the discussion to match their agenda and creating false associations all serve no purpose other than illustrate their own weaknesses. So sad. So sad.

  10. An exercise in logic:

    Assume the issue Eastman is raising has merit. I believe it does. How does he, or the people who support him propose to tackle it?

    Eastman has zero natural allies of merit in Juneau. The Republicans don’t care for him. The Leftists hate him. His grandstanding has gotten him press, but little if any means to leverage it.

    So, realistically, what good can be done at this point? The issue will always be tainted by the man who shed light on it. At least in Juneau.

    • Masked, I ask you to please reconsider your question with the implied portion inserted. “So, realistically, what good can be done (by speaking the truth) at this point? What examples can you cite where truth is not best? .
      .
      Is it truly proper to tell children to believe in Santa Claus rather than the Son of God who became the Son of Man to save them from their sins? Just remember, in 1940 Nazi Germany, everyone was lying to each other; the tyranny was not exclusive to those in control at the top echelons of government. Teachers lied to students, parents lied to children, they all lied to each other to “go with the flow.”

      • Sigh. I really wish Holy Rosary had a site these thumpers could hang out it.

        Let me be very gentle. Once.

        Waving your Bible at a left of center Alaska population, legislature, corrupt judiciary will not, repeat not make an iota of difference to them.

        More, it will give them means to marginalize you and everyone who looks like you from the real political aspects of the debate.

        It’s life 101. You fight the battle you’re in. Not the battle you want to be in.

        You, Eastman, and every holy roller you can find are well within your rights to go to Juneau and press your case. You can sign hymns, read Scripture, preach, even March in a circle around the statue of Bill Seward. Know what it will accomplish? Nothing.

        Hint: make sure you arrange for a hotel before you go. Hard to find right now. Unless you want to spend your down time preaching to the homeless in the tent next to you.

        Funny thing about Nazi Germany. I knew people who lived through it. Most didn’t lie to each other or anyone else. They did what they had to to survive an inhuman regime.

        Hint: if you want to draw parallels to Nazism in their experiments on people, or extermination of undesirables you have a point. Making blanket Nazi references is a classic sign of a weak argument. But..but…but…Nazis!

        Your weak “go with the flow” argument actually proves my point, roundabout. You have no cogent plan of attack, just a self righteous position. Your prerogative. But it will not solve any issues for you the way you’d hope. Honestly it’s the same mindset as a guy who hates life and decides he’s a girl.

        I’m going to approach you as a well intended but badly misguided Brother on Christ.

        Some, but by no means all, examples of hoping prayer and righteousness alone fix things.

        -didn’t stop the Blitz
        -didn’t stop the Civil War
        -did nothing for the Polish Jews
        -the Eagles still lost the Super Bowl
        -Biden still became president
        -your property taxes went up
        -people still come here and wave the Bible (often poorly interpreted) here as an example of a political solution.

        So I loop back to my original premise, which I decline to change to fit your worldview. What is your PLAN?

        As I indicated earlier, go to Juneau like this you’ll be laughed all the way to Red Dog.

        I’ll throw you a bone to get you started. Think the Roe/Wade reversal was a gift from God? Not the way you think so.

        The reversal came about after a half a century of people learning how to play the system. Moving of peoples opinions slowly. Finding people of goodwill who were not on the same religious wavelength.

        Copy that instead of grandstanding with Eastman.

        On a final note, it was ragingly disingenuous to do your sad conflation of “tell the truth” to my position. I’d hope you could do better in the future.

        But two points regarding it. At no point did I not disavow truth. I asked what your plan was.

        Second point: if you think it’s wise to always tell the truth all the time, I challenge you to do two things.

        -tell your wife she looks fat in that outfit. Bluntly.
        -have your wife tell you how good you actually are in bed. Bluntly.

    • The issue is dealt with at the personal/family level. ‘We’ do not need a law concerning aborting Downs babies, we need to keep the word out that this is being pushed by the legal and medical community as a valid procedure. When prospective parents are educated on this subject, they will be the ones that push back. When they understand that their child can still be a valuable member of society, then they will be the ones to tell the doctors ‘NO’ when they try to encourage an abortion.

      The subject here is the important part. Not the messenger.

  11. Why does Eastman care about prenatal care when he does not support Medicaid ,SNAP, Education funding, or anything for that matter that helps children after they are born?

    • The right-wing thinks that by taking an absolutist position on abortion, they can pretend that they care about people more than their wallets.

    • Frank, I believe that he would saw these are not ‘like’ things to be put in the same bucket. One involves protection of life, which is a natural, or ‘negative’ right of all people. Simply put, it is a core function of government to ensure that people are not intentionally killed.

      The other things you list are all government programs that do not protect the natural rights of life, liberty, or property. Rather, they involve choices of taking money and resources from one group and giving it to another. So I would conclude that Eastman would not be persuaded by your perception of inconsistency.

    • Medicaid has become a pox on our society and will ultimately be an unwieldy cost to the state. There are few programs that are permeated with more fraud than the SNAP and Medicaid programs. Also, there is no program more representative of the fact that funding is NOT the problem with education than the Anchorage School District, with a $549.5 million budget that equates to $13128 per student. The net result is kids that cannot read, write, or do basic math or read a tape measure. Attempting to distract from facts put forth by Eastman don’t make them any less factual.

    • Good question Frank. Mr. Eastman is educated. He understands our constitution. It guarantees every person a right to life. I challenge you to hold the document up to a light, turn it upside down, pour lemon juice on it. You will not find where it guarantees any of us a right to Medicaid, Snap, education funding, etc, etc. All these items are privileges paid for by someone else’s labor and production (mob theft).

      “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”–Hosea4:6

      • Please provide a specific clause in the Alaska Constitution, the privacy clause is Article I, Section 22 that limits government in the doctor-patient relationship and what a woman does with her body.
        BTW Bible passages have zero to do with the Alaska Constitution

    • Perhaps it’s because it’s the parents’ obligation to support their child after birth not the government’s.

    • Exactly, why so steadfast about protecting life before birth, and yet don’t give a damn about life after birth?

      • People DO care about children after they are born, conservatives & liberals alike.
        Throwing $ at people who make poor (terrible?) choices, to further enable them & their children to make more bad choices, is not necessarily the answer Matt (is that you pastor?)
        If gov spending was the answer we would have won the war on poverty started 60 years ago by LBJ.
        Instead we have barely put a dent in it. People are better fed (food stamps) & Seniors have done better (Medicare), but overall the poverty rate is stuck at 10-12%
        Better behavior (not more $) may be the solution Matt.
        That is the ‘other’ solution, let’s give it a try.

    • Frank, I think Eastman like most of us believe that rearing a child is the responsibility of the parent and not a benevolent government agency. This concept worked very well until the advent of LBJ’s soul crushing ” Great Society Programs” . These programs by every measure made society much worse off BTW.
      Your plea for more education funding is laughable. Giving the rotten Educational Industrial Complex more $ is like giving whiskey and the keys to your car to a 16 year old boy.
      Keep posting Frank and one day you might get something right!

      • The racist, LBJ, started “The War on Poverty”
        He should have went w/ “The War on Stupidity”
        But then his Democratic Party would lose more elections.
        Can’t have that, can we?

    • Prenatal care is the responsibility of the parent(s) Frank.

      All of which you state are the supposed responsibility of the government, of which they should have no responsibility at all, as that is not what for they exist.

      Said care exists solely within the parent(s) responsibility until such time that said child can attain unto themselves a responsible and self-sufficient life.

      Government is not ours, nor their parents, and never shall be, thus should be unconsidered within any upbringing aspect of any individual’s life, nor throughout their individual lives up until death.

      Individuals own their lives, Frank.

      The government does not.

  12. Just how true to life are these pre-natal testing’s? I’ve read where many women have received these tests and when the doctors having predicted their outcome while the women refuse to abort their children regardless of the results ONLY to KNOW after the birth the children were normal never having downs syndrome. How many children are we MURDERING by depending on a lousy testing. We are losing many people that could have many answers to our society if ONLY they had LIVED. I can’t forget the fact that “our” great Gospel Singer,” Ethel Water’s mother refused to abort her child, probably due to financial reasons. We would have lost a great singer, and to bring this to the present…Our Great Football player, Tim Tebow. His mother declined to undergo an abortion after experiencing a life-threatening illness during her pregnancy, despite the significant health risks associated with the pregnancy.

  13. The death of the mentally impaired is where Hitler’s Eugenics State began. History is repeating itself.

  14. Our rights are the the law. Our rights (“droit” in Bouviers law dictionary the one the founders used) came before the Constitution. Our lives are given by God. We have an absolute right to defend our lives in this nation. Problem is democrats disavow this so they must do a disservice and a bad job at writing code as do God-deniers rinos.

  15. I worked for a few years in social services, working w/ all kinds of disabled people.
    EVERYONE who has ever worked w/ Downs Syndrome individuals KNOWS they are some of the most beautiful people you will ever meet.
    They are friendly, open and can accomplish a lot if we help them a little.
    And helping them a little is a joy, it just is.
    They will make you smile ….EVERYDAY that you are w/ them.
    It is easy to see why God gave them to us.

  16. My sister anguished over the doctor’s insistence she abort her last child because the test showed Downs. He is 24, completely unaffected by any Downs challenges, and contributing daily to his family and society. Maybe the Innocence Project should be concerned about Downs testing.

  17. Once again, Eastman is the topic, not the issue he allegedly is concerned about. Which, I suspect is exactly how he wants it.

    Eastman is rapidly becoming the Megan Markle of Alaska politics.

  18. Jonathan Swift modestly and satirically proposed that the burdensome poverty-stricken children of Ireland be eaten. Boy have we got him beat: we now prevent potential burdens on society from being born by harvesting them prenatally and slurry into them into overpriced makeup. Or by using their cells for medical procedures that only the obscenely rich can afford. America’s Powers That Be have tricked America’s Powerless, its Have Nots, into hating one another and into hating themselves. America is as anti-human, anti-life and anti-God as it has ever been. If we were to look for a Great Wh*re of Babylon in 2023, anyone with any common sense would know that we are it. We are on the wrong path, and have been for at least 20 years but arguably 50+ years. “ Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

  19. Funny, you made it all the way through West Point without learning tact. I thought that was an Army leadership trait. One way to define tact might be “the art of making your point without coming off as a tool.” I’m 100% with the spirit of your argument, but your constituents didn’t send you to Juneau to be a troll – they hoped you would get things done. Instead of trying to impress us with more censurable satire, how about you pass some legislation that protects the unborn? If you can find anyone in Juneau on either side of the aisle to work with you, that is.

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