Outlawing abortion won’t help children with Down syndrome? History might suggest otherwise.

Earlier this week, the New York Times Motherlode blog featured a post by Alison Piepmeier with the headline: "Outlawing abortion won't help children with Down syndrome?" Much of what she wrote echoed points I have made previously, but there is a distinction based on historical examples. Continue Reading

News coverage of the Down Syndrome Information Act

World Down Syndrome Day was bookended by two pieces of legislation. The week after 3/21, North Dakota enacted its law banning Down syndrome-selective abortion, which I wrote about at this post. The week before 3/21, Kentucky passed the Down Syndrome Information Act, requiring written materials and referral to parent support organizations with every Down syndrome diagnosis, prenatal or postnatal, which I wrote about here. In a recent column in TIME magazine, the two laws were discussed. Continue Reading

Kentucky joins Massachusetts in expanding information about Down syndrome

Yesterday, Governor Steve Beshear signed into law Senate Bill 34, referred to already as "The Down Syndrome Information Bill." The bill was patterned after a 2012 Massachusetts law. It requires that any health care professional or facility that delivers a Down syndrome diagnosis, prenatally or postnatally, also provide the family with up-to-date, evidence-based, written information and the contact information for national and local support programs and services, specifically listing Down Continue Reading

Creating an ordinary life for an extraordinary person

  Do you know about the TED talks? I discovered them several years ago and find them an endless source of inspiration and challenging ideas. The talk featured in this post (and at this link) is one of the best I've seen. Continue Reading

The need for care and support

This past weekend was the Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action conference. Consistent with past years, the schedule featured sharing sessions and breakouts on best practices for medical outreach and new and expectant parent support. With the advances being made in prenatal testing and research showing that the need for care and support is a key factor for expectant mothers making a decision following a prenatal diagnosis, this information is needed now more than ever. Continue Reading

Giving Thanks: For those who get to know those with Down syndrome

Happy Thanksgiving! For those going through prenatal testing for Down syndrome, let us give thanks for those who make the effort to get to know more about Down syndrome. Continue Reading