August 27, 2020

"Before Samuel was even born, I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living. When early tests revealed he had Down syndrome..."

"... our doctor encouraged me to terminate the pregnancy. He said, 'If you do not, you will be burdening your life, your family, and your community.'... When we went to register Samuel for kindergarten, we were told to just put him where he would be comfortable. Don’t stress him out by trying to teach him. When we pushed for him to attend his neighborhood school with his sisters, we were told, 'Just go home and let us do what we do.' When I inquired about functional learning, I was told, 'This is all you get, like it or not.' Well, I did not like it. One size did not fit all. So, I helped fight to pass legislation in Ohio for a special needs scholarship, so that all students could choose the right program for their needs. I worked to start a new functional learning program at our local private school. Finally, Samuel had an appropriate place to learn. Last December, Samuel was invited to the White House to meet our President and share his thoughts on education freedom. He said, 'School choice helped my dreams come true. My school taught me the way I learn best. I was able to fit in. I made many friends. I became a part of my community. My teachers helped me become the best I can be.' President Trump shook my hand and said, 'Wonderful job, mom. Your son is amazing.'"

From last night's GOP convention, a woman named Tara Myers.

Here's the video. I am especially touched at the part where she quotes her son:

31 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Meanwhile, the democrats spread lies and division and insider corruption.

they make themselves wealthy. they screw up our lives and livelihoods in the name of their manipulated righteous bullshit.

Democrats are the party of the tech oligarch. democrats are the party of the billionaires they claim to despise, supported by the very tech oligarchs who support their network of lies. it trickles all the way down to the antifa terrorist on the street.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

You know when I was done with Reddit? When I read a TIL that was that 90% of Down babies are aborted, and the top rated comment, by a lot, was "Good."

Fuck all eugenicists and their evil 'life unworthy of life' bullshit.

mockturtle said...

All lives matter.

wendybar said...

ALL LIVES MATTER. PERIOD!!!

rhhardin said...

It's pretty much generally understood before abortion that if you don't abort your baby, you wind up loving him.

As with whether to get a dog, it's not the only consideration at the time.

Chris said...

Progressives: Only some lives are worth living. We determine which lives those are. Tell me again who the Nazi's are?

NCMoss said...

rhhardin: It's pretty much generally understood...

Look out, a load poo is coming this way.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, I have misjudged you. I am mortified and very, very sorry.

rhhardin said...

Dogs have the advantage that they get closer as they age instead of them rebelling and taking up nose piercings.

Kate said...

I would've liked to see a still/video of the son meeting the President. She was a heartfelt speaker who overwhelmed me with her intensity. We need the boy! Who doesn't want to see him?

daskol said...

Why no "kids in politics" tag?

Drago said...

Remember: Iceland claimed to have "cured Down Syndrome"....by aborting all Down Syndrome kids.

There is no more perfect example of a lefty/dem/LLR-lefty "cure".

Iceland "Cures" Down Syndrome: Should America Do the Same?

And not to worry lefties/LLR-lefties! If one of those Down Syndrome kids "sneaks thru" and somehow manages to survive at birth, you guys are already on board with post-birth abortion and body part harvesting!

I have to hand it to our lefties/LLR-lefties. They really thought this one all the way through, didn't they?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Politically brilliant and typically Trumpian. The Left will attack this woman. They simply can't help themselves.

Gravel said...

I'm ... not one of the most progressive or woke folks you'll meet. I have known lots of Down people and with few exceptions they've been delightful.

It's one of the most jarring hallarks of the progressive/woke left that they are more opposed to the use of the word "retard" than they are to the extermination and blatant discrimination against people who that word is (callously) used to refer to.

Joe Smith said...

For whatever reason (maybe having to be a tough guy to get along in Queens), Trump projects a fair amount of bluster.

But I've read far too many stories about what he's like behind closed doors that all portray him as a very nice guy and a softie.

Jupiter said...

What a tragedy. Doesn't she realize that her son will never be able to smash and burn other people's property, like a normal child?

Paco Wové said...

Apropos of Reddit:

For only the second time in my life, I ventured onto Reddit recently. I recommend it (or a similar site) to those who spend too much time in a sort of alt-right or libertarian bubble. People there are virtually unanimous in their conviction that the purpose of government is to distribute goods and services for free and taxing rich people will take care of it.

Cops (and the law itself) exist simply to enforce predatory capitalism upon the masses. For this reason, neither has any legitimacy whatever and may be ignored and/or attacked depending on what your mood happens to be on any given day.

Everything white people have (except wokesters of course) was gained illegitimately by trampling poor and minority peeps underfoot for centuries! Every single bit of it needs to be liberated. Either put up your fist in solidarity, and everything will be taken from you relatively peacefully, or resist and everything will be taken from you the other way.

Wince said...

Increasingly, not just conservatives but anyone not on the left can empathize with the way her son was treated by the bureaucracy as an uncomfortable, expendable burden no matter how hard he was willing to work to succeed.

n.n said...

A life deemed worthy of life. A mom who made the right choice again, and again, and again. What will we normalize next? That said, good for her son. We all have challenges. He stood and overcame his.

Kevin said...

I'll take Stories Not Welcome at the Democratic Convention for $800, Alex.

traditionalguy said...

That true story made grown men cry. Fathers love their children as strong as mothers do. That’s why we defend them and work to provide for them. Good private schools for them is the best money that we ever spend.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

You Know The Thing. (unless you are a ProgLibDem)

Fernandinande said...

I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living.

The passive phrasing of her statement means that nobody actually said that to her.

Narr said...

Just as an empirical, historical observation, No, not all lives matter.

In some Utopia perhaps, but not here.

Narr
The wording is clear: it says "Life" is an inalienable right, not "Being Born"


Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

is birth an essential part of Life?
Can you have Life without being born?

stever said...

"The passive phrasing of her statement means that nobody actually said that to her."

@ Fernandinande

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

MadTownGuy said...

Fernandinande said...
" 'I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living.'

The passive phrasing of her statement means that nobody actually said that to her.
"

Our pediatrician said nearly as much at our daughter's first checkup after she came home from the hospital. After she was born she had to have a colostomy and we knew that open heart surgery was about a year down the road, plus, eventually, reversal of the colostomy so she could have normal lower GI function. I don't think he was being heartless; just presenting worst-case scenarios to steel us against whatever obstacles we might face.

She's in her late 30s and in good health, especially now that she has a pulmonary valve replacement. But both of her workplaces are near Downtown Madison. I'm starting to wonder if it will ever be safe for her to go back.

Narr said...

I-ARM@258-- fair question, but I'm not the final authority.

As a matter of logic, yes; as matter of politics it's an irrelevancy.

Narr
Do I look like the Supreme Court in this outfit?

Enlighten-NewJersey said...

Fernandinande said...
I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living. The passive phrasing of her statement means that nobody actually said that to her.

Her phrasing means she heard that or a similar statement from more than one person.

daskol said...

This is children in politics. She didn't drag him out on stage, but she quoted him, and it's in the same exploitative vein, even if we like her story better than the typical children in politics case.

n.n said...

This is children in politics.

That's the point: unPlanned Children, yes. A human life that is deemed worthy of life, as a whole, not redistributed as profitable parts, or clumps of cells.

"... our doctor encouraged me to terminate the pregnancy. He said, 'If you do not, you will be burdening your life, your family, and your community.

Very Obama-like. They really hoped that the sociopolitical, quasi-religious em-pathetic appeal to a rape... rape-rape culture, a patriarchal left-wing social construct, would justify their trans-humane Choice.

"Before Samuel was even born, I was told his life wouldn’t be worth living. When early tests revealed he had Down syndrome...

It's not a passive statement, but rather a paraphrase that captures the content and spirit of the Choice. A human life deemed unworthy of life, a social inconvenience, or a profitable parcel of parts to be shared.