Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Through Catholic Lenses

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Woman Told She Should Have Aborted Autistic Children

Woman Told She Should Have Aborted Autistic Children

Last updated on: August 22, 2020 at 9:54 pm by Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

Woman Told She Should Have Aborted Autistic Children 2020-08-22T21:54:09-04:00 Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In Ireland, someone told a woman with two autistic children that she should have aborted them. Here’s the story followed by two points I have with this.

Suggesting Eugenic Abortion

An Irish Website, NewsTalk, posted the story:

Samantha Kenny, from Athy in Co Kildare, says the letter targeted her family after she campaigned for back to school guidelines for children with autism…

She told Newstalk Breakfast she has reported the issue to Gardaí [Irish national police].

“Initially I was kind of shocked and my stomach just dropped because you don’t expect that kind of stuff to come through your door.

“I do a lot of campaigning online and I’ve had a few nasty things said to me online, but I never expected a letter to arrive through the door.”

The Actual Letter

From her Facebook Post, the actual text said:

I can’t believe you had another kid after having 2 with autism, you must have been smoking and drinking and have no brains. Now you have a child that is in pain and suffering. What kind of Monster are you, did you even hear of abortion. You must be very stupid.

The letter From Samantha Kenny’s Facebook (used with permission)

Don’t Fake Catholicism

Unfortunately, the hate mail sender included a prayer to the Holy Spirit. When they are calling a person “a Monster” and “very stupid,” while suggesting abortion, they are not listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of charity. The Holy Spirit values unborn life. The Holy Spirit values autistic humans. Please don’t claim to be Catholic while acting opposite to Catholicism. I don’t know everything that comes from the Holy Spirit, but I can say that this letter does not.

Say No to Eugenic Abortion

Society has already decided to abort most babies with Down syndrome. As prenatal diagnoses increase this will probably extend to other conditions. Also, some (like this author) want parents of disabled kids to abort future pregnancies. I’ve written about this before so will just quote from one of those articles.

Pope Francis referred to aborting disabled children in June 2018, saying: “I’ve heard that it’s fashionable, or at least usual, that when in the first few months of pregnancy they do studies to see if the child is healthy or has something, the first offer is: let’s send it away.”

In this speech, Pope Francis pulls no punches, comparing this practice to Nazism: “the murder of children…to get a peaceful life an innocent [person] is sent away…We do the same as the Nazis to maintain the purity of the race, but with white gloves.” He then notes, “It’s an atrocity but we do the same thing.”

In April 2020, Pope Francis was answering a question about how countries could show respect for human life in their coronavirus response. He jumps to the throwaway culture pointing to abortion of babies with Down syndrome as a prime example:

In the world of finance it has seemed normal to sacrifice [people], to practice a politics of the throwaway culture, from the beginning to the end of life. I’m thinking, for example, of prenatal selection. It’s very unusual these days to meet Down’s Syndrome people on the street; when the tomograph [scan] detects them, they are binned. It’s a culture of euthanasia, either legal or covert, in which the elderly are given medication but only up to a point.

On top of Pope Francis, right after condemning abortion, the Catechism (2276) notes that we need to help the disabled live well: “Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.” This paragraph starts the section on euthanasia. The eugenic abortions based on prenatal tests would be both euthanasia and abortion at the same time.

I hope that situations like this can help forge cooperation between pro-life and disability rights groups who could be great allies on this and euthanasia.

Conclusion

We need to help mothers of autistic children like Samantha Kenny to get the support they need at school. We should never discriminate against them suggesting eugenic abortions.

Note: Please support me on Patreon to write more like this.

Previous Post

August 13, 2020

Video Shows the Need to Train Priests on Disability

Next Post

September 1, 2020 Debunking Catholic Disinformation Re: Vaccines (Viganò)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Autism Bioethics Book Review Business and Economics Catholic Social Teaching Culture Diocesan Life Disability Discipleship Euthanasia Family Life Genetics Global Politics History Immigration Inspiration Interview Liturgy Moral Theology My Life News Analysis Original Articles Prayer Privacy Pro-Life Science Sexual orientation or identity Social Media Sports Technology Theology Uncategorized US Politics Vatican

Select a Month March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz