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As legislators in Ohio consider banning abortion following a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome, readers shared stories of abortion decisions and living with family members with the disorder.
Like many who wrote about complex family histories in response to an op-ed, one man said his sister Joyce was deeply loved, but also changed his family’s life in painful ways. For many, abortion is a rational choice, he said.
“She was still wearing diapers when my parents were able to get her into a state home so that my mother could go back to work in order to get us out of a rat-infested three-room apartment. The decision caused her much pain and she bore it her entire life,” Dan in Massachusetts wrote. “I know that faced with a decision about having a Downs child my mother and all Joyce’s family would choose an abortion.”<
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Some readers said they opposed abortion in any circumstance — one said on Facebook that “making sacrifices is part of being a parent.” But like the author of the op-ed, some parents said they support families’ current right to decide about an abortion, even though they chose to give birth to a child with Down syndrome.
“The point here is that each person’s choice is theirs to make,” wrote Janie, who said she found out during pregnancy that her now 40-year-old son had Down syndrome.
Read full, original post: Down Syndrome and Abortions: Readers Share Their Stories
