The Corner

Culture

Twenty-Four Things That Caught My Eye Today: Rethinking the Inhumanity of Prenatal Testing, the Bible on a Fire Truck & More

By
(Cylonphoto/Getty Images)

1. Amy Julia Becker: Our Prenatal Testing System Is Broken (New York Times)

Our 16-year-old daughter, Penny, wakes up to the beeping of her alarm. On her way downstairs, she picks up her iPhone to check her texts. She eats breakfast, gathers her sneakers and pompoms for cheerleading and heads to school. When Penny was diagnosed with Down syndrome a few hours after she was born, I didn’t expect our mornings to feel so ordinary.

… 

Many women whose prenatal tests looked similar to mine are counseled by medical professionals to pursue further diagnostic testing, and, with a confirmation of Down syndrome, to consider abortion. Every day, I’m glad I didn’t.

…

Done right, prenatal testing could allow parents to prepare well for the birth of their children. But without broad social acceptance of people with disabilities, without a medical establishment that conveys the positive social situations of many people with disabilities, and without funding for accurate and up-to-date information in the face of a prenatal diagnosis, more and more women will face decisions about their pregnancies without the support they deserve.

And the more we assume that prenatal diagnoses of Down syndrome will result in abortion, the more we will send a message to all our children that their worth depends on their ability to achieve. Instead of reinforcing structures that welcome only homogeneous bodies and minds as units of production, we need a system that supports and welcomes a diverse range of humans with their particular limits and struggles and gifts. 

2. Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie: 

Perhaps the discrimination faced by people who have disabilities before birth substantially contributes to the difficulties they later encounter. We can do better as a society by becoming more inclusive and accepting of those with disabilities, understanding that — even from the very beginning — the person is so much more than the disability they happen to have. 

3. Interview: ‘It’s a miracle that she could escape’

Journalist Andrea Hoffmann discusses the book she co-wrote with Uyghur camp survivor Mihrigul Tursun.

There are millions who have no escape. It’s a miracle that she could escape. It’s a complete miracle. And all the others, they are in this situation without any fault [of their own], and it makes me so angry. There’s no justification for putting anybody in a situation like that. Then, I heard that all those women were in one room day and night. They didn’t even have a place to sleep, and not enough food; this propaganda all the time, then the fights. People were dying because it was so hard on their bodies and minds. I had this vision of her being in that room all the time. I don’t know how you cannot go crazy in a situation like that. She just had newborn babies that were just six weeks old. I cannot imagine how terrible that must have felt for her body because she was still breastfeeding them, and then also for them. One of them has died. The situation is so terrible. I think you doubt being a human being, and your life is so fragile that you cannot do anything about it against this force from outside. You feel so weak.

4. Crux: Pakistan Catholic leaders condemn murder of Anglican clergyman

Dominican Father James Channan, director of the Lahore-based Peace Center, called the attack on Siraj and his companions “tragic and shocking.”

“This incident has created a sense of insecurity in us, especially, religious leaders and human rights activists and promoters of interfaith harmony and peace. Assistant Pastor William was a harmless person. He was a teacher for many years and now serving in the Church as Assistant Pastor. He was a member of the Anglican Church, which is part of the Church of Pakistan,” he told Crux.

5.

6.

7. New York Times: Leprosy Hospital Offers Healing, and a Haven, to the Shunned

“When I ride the bus,” Amina said in a whisper, “I hide my hands in my shawl.”

“Even my own brother,” she added, trying to wipe away the tears, “makes me feel ashamed.”

But there’s one place where her dignity is replenished: the Sivananda Rehabilitation Home, which has served as both hospital and refuge for six decades in a country that struggles with leprosy more than any other.

8. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C.: Notre Dame, China, and Standing Up for Human Rights

The time is right for Notre Dame to do for Jimmy Lai what Fr. Theodore Hesburgh did for Lech Walesa at the 1982 commencement, at a time when the great Polish leader of the Solidarity trade union movement was imprisoned by the Soviet-backed Polish regime. He received an honorary degree in absentia with the Solidarity flag draped over an empty chair. The citation described Walesa as “a man who has shown the world … that ideas can be outlawed, movements crushed and people imprisoned, but the human instinct for freedom and dignity can never be suppressed.”

9. Medical aid in dying is really a discussion about disabilities

10. Helen Alvaré: What a ‘return to the states’ might look like for the pro-life cause

There is already an urgent need to increase the quantity and visibility of assistance to pregnant women in need — no one doubts that. There are thousands of agencies spread across all 50 states doing this already, but more will be needed. In this work, pro-lifers cannot be shy about insisting that government and private groups who claim to care about women and children step up, too. They should call an “abortion first” version of feminism not only a lie, but the cheap way out. A world without Roe is one in which “pro-choice” organizations will need to put their money where their slogan is. 

Still, we know this is not enough. Material and emotional aid is necessary, but usually not enough to overcome the pressures of our culture and the desperate circumstances women face. No one expects women to base momentous decisions about mothering primarily upon the availability of even years of free or subsidized stuff. 

Instead, they will ask themselves whether their circumstances are conducive to motherhood in a culture that takes a schizophrenic stance toward it. Mothering is both valorized as generous and socially important, and feared as the graveyard of time, money, freedom and self-realization. 

11.

12. Kelsey Dallas: In the war over faith-based foster-care agencies, is an end finally in sight?

When the Supreme Court’s decision was handed down in June, it wasn’t clear that its impact would be felt so strongly or so quickly. No one denied that it was significant for the court to unanimously side with the Catholic agency, but some legal experts felt the ruling was not broad enough to shake up the national landscape.

“(The ruling) was based on very narrow grounds,” Luchenitser said, noting that the justices focused on the granular details of Philadelphia’s foster care contracts.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, one of the Supreme Court’s more conservative members, highlighted this fact in his concurring opinion. He argued that the majority opinion was essentially a road map showing Philadelphia officials how to revise their policies and continue excluding faith-based agencies without violating the law.

13. Jason Manning: Family as Suicide Prevention

Studies of various countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas find that marriage generally has a protective effect. Evidence for this includes the results of large-scale longitudinal studies that track hundreds of thousands, or in some cases millions, of individuals over time. For instance, a national-register study of all Norwegians between the ages of 35 and 54 found that risk of suicide was significantly lower among married men and women than among their unmarried counterparts.

14. Jeff Jacoby predicts: A peaceful Supreme Court confirmation, for a change

we can look forward to something we haven’t seen in quite a while: a routine nomination and confirmation process. With luck, there will be none of the character assassination, unhinged protests, filibusters, massive advertising campaigns, or stonewalling that were deployed against other Supreme Court nominees. Washington, it appears, is poised to do something important without a fight. Won’t that be a change.

15. 

16. Time to Accept Covid and Move On?

Only one-third of the public (34%) feels the country will get the outbreak under control and return to normal by the end of the year. In fact, more than 1 in 4 (28%) now believe a return to normalcy will never happen, which is up from 22% who felt this way in September and just 6% who were similarly pessimistic exactly a year ago.

17. 2021, the year for school choice, from Reason:  

 

18. ​​The world is sublime, and art proves it

19.

20. 

21.

22. Dr. Tod Worner: The Hope at the Bottom of Pandora’s Box

It happens each night. 

“Can we read just one more, please?” Vivian looks at me with those big blue eyes. 

“Just one,” I answer with a smile. 

I always cave in. 

23. Answering the Call: When a Fire Truck Becomes a ‘Friar Truck’

Sound the alarm, and make way for the “Friar Truck” and its first official call: January’s “Bible Marathon” in St. Martinville, Louisiana. After this debut, it will continue carrying on its official duty — proclaiming the word of God from its eye-catching, antique mobile pulpit.

No one will be able to miss the message as the Friar Truck makes its rounds. It is the brainchild-innovation of Father Michael Champagne, superior of the Community of Jesus Crucified in St. Martinville. On the driver’s side of the truck are emblazoned Jesus’ words from Luke, “I have come to cast a fire upon the earth.”

24. Speakers stress message of hope at OneLife LA’s in-person return

Keynote speaker Sister Bethany Madonna appealed to the audience with the words from the Letter of St. Peter: “Always be prepared to give a reason for your hope.”

Speakers stress message of hope at OneLife LA’s in-person return

As a Sister of Life, Sister Bethany and members of her order accompany pregnant mothers in difficult circumstances, and she reminded the audience of their own part to play in that mission: “Even one person can make a difference in letting women know that they are loved…that they are not alone and they are capable.” 

She shared personal stories of the witnesses that can change the course of lives — praying a rosary in front of an abortion clinic, taking a walk with a pregnant mom. 

“You do not know the fruit of your prayers, your sacrifices, your living witness,” she said. “Lives can change in an instant.”

ALSO: If you’re a Catholic woman in your 20s — or know one — you might be interested in the Given Forum this June. Deadline is this month. 

return-icon Return to The Corner

Exit mobile version