March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day.
This petition stands with the Down Syndrome Community, and those with other disabilities, AGAINST eugenic abortion.
Right now, around the world, people with Down Syndrome are being systematically targeted for elimination. Indeed, it would not be a stretch to call their destruction a form of 'genocide'.
If that sounds extreme to you, consider these facts: 92% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted in the US; 98% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted in Denmark; and, nearly 100% in Iceland.
It is what it is: an effort to deliberately target and wipe-out an entire group of people.
In a world which keeps telling us that we need to be more inclusive, this petition tells the UN to help stop eugenic abortion on the grounds of Down Syndrome or other hereditary genetic conditions.
We call on the UN's Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) to pass resolutions to amend the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to expressly work to change the perception and laws in member countries on this issue.
In an inclusive society, disabled people should not be systematically targeted for abortion simply because they have a genetic condition which makes them different to the majority.
And, the OHCHR and the High Commissioner, herself - Michelle Bachelet - who was just installed this year, should work to end this egregious form of discrimination.
The UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 10, on 'The Right to Life', states: "States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others."
It couldn't be more clear: The UN OHCHR has an obligation to ensure - by all necessary measures - that the right to life of people with disabilities is vindicated.
Already, several American states have taken the step to stop this form of eugenic cleansing:
- Ohio has a law which bans abortion based on genetic testing designed to determine whether or not an unborn baby has Down Syndrome.
- Indiana has a law which bans abortion based on an unborn baby's sex, race, disability or potential disability.
- Kentucky just passed a law also banning abortion based on an unborn baby's sex, race or disability.
- And, North Dakota's law bans both sex-selective and disability-selective abortion.
While we will work to see the day when abortion is a thing of the past, right now we are asking the UN's OHCHR to work to ensure that this particularly heinous form of discrimination - eugenic abortion - is eliminated from popular culture and from the laws of member states.
Thank you for standing with the Down Syndrome Community and those with other disabilities. And, thank you for signing this urgent petition.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
More information about World Down Syndrome Day - https://www.worlddownsyndromed...
See Article 10 - UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - https://ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/...
News stories about the effects of eugenics abortion as well as the laws to ban it in different states:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
https://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
*Photo credit: Shutterstock.com
