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The Public Policy

Intolerance for Imperfection

The cultural prejudice against children with developmental disabilities is being seriously challenged.

(Page 2 of 2)

Sadly, up to 90 percent of babies with Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida and other genetic conditions are aborted once their condition is detected. Abortion decisions are often made with little accurate information about what it's like to raise a child with a developmental disability.

That's a problem legislators are attempting to alleviate with a new federal law. The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act would, among other things, expand and develop a national clearinghouse of information for parents of children with disabilities. It would also provide for the expansion of national and local peer-support groups and call for the creation of a national registry of families willing to adopt children with pre- or post-natally diagnosed conditions.

On September 23, the Senate unanimously passed the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act. Two days later, the House of Representatives passed the bill. It now awaits the president's signature to become law.

Page:   12

topics:
Sarah Palin, Sports, Abortion, Law

About the Author

Daniel Allott is senior writer at American Values, a Washington Fellow at the National Review Institute, and Co-Executive Producer of the forthcoming documentary film Flashes of Color: Disability in the Age of Perfection.

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