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Kennedy's True Legacy on Abortion and Disability.
In his column this morning, Ross Douthat sets up a dichotomy between Ted Kennedy and his also recently departed sister, Eunice. Ted was a Bad Kennedy and a Bad Catholic because he was pro-choice; Eunice was a Good Kennedy and a Good Catholic because the cause of her life was disability rights, and she supported anti-abortion rights organizations such as Femnists for Life, the Susan B. Anthony List, and Democrats for Life.
But Kennedy's legacy on abortion and disability is actually far more complex than Douthat acknowledges. In 2005, Kennedy co-sponsored a bill -- the Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act -- that expanded federal financing for support programs for expectant and new parents who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis. Research shows that doctors delivering such a diagnosis often share very little information about living with the disease, and presume that the patient would prefer to terminate her pregnancy. Indeed, about 90 percent of couples who receive a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis do choose abortion. But enriched by his sister Rosemary's life, Kennedy sought to link expectant and new parents with mentor families already raising a child with Down syndrome, as well as create a national registry of families willing to adopt disabled infants.
Kennedy's partner on the bill was conservative Catholic Sen. Sam Brownback, who regularly compares abortion to slavery. During negotiations between the two offices, Kennedy held fast to his belief that the law must go further than just dissuading abortion; he wanted to be sure the legislation offered funding to improve the lives of disabled people and their caretakers. Last October, the bill was signed into law by President Bush. In a testament to Kennedy's coalition-building genius, it was even supported by NARAL President Nancy Keenan, who said it offered women choices without undermining their right to an abortion.
Only Ted Kennedy could bring NARAL to the table with Sam Brownback. And that's because he knew, in his heart, that there was no contradiction between being deeply pro-choice and deeply pro-disability rights.
For more on the moral complications of genetic testing, disability, and abortion, check out my 2007 In These Times feature, "Genetic Disorder."
--Dana Goldstein
COMMENTS (5)
Thank you for this. I was deeply troubled by Douthat's column. As a citizen of Mass. for well over 30 years and an admirer of Ted Kennedy's politics before that, I knew something was "off" in Douthat's characterization of Kennedy's complex, thoughtful positions on incredibly difficult questions. You've gone a long way to identifying how D's arguments were turning, like milk that is beginning to sour.
Douthat -- someone whose views I attend to -- falls into a familiar trap. Why do people (more often than not, men) so readily confuse women's general dilemmas about abortion with their specific dilemmas when they know they will be bearing a severely disabled child? Do they not trust the subtlety and generosity of our judgements?
Posted by: mch | September 1, 2009 1:52 AM
"Do they not trust the subtlety and generosity of our judgements?" No, they don't.
Posted by: JohnM | September 1, 2009 10:59 AM
Ted Kennedy reminds us all that choice is a two way street. Many want to use the word choice as a synonym for abortion. My wife and I are both very Pro choice and we chose to have a son who happens to have DS. Challenging yes, but the world is a better place because of the joy that he brings to the lives who he touches. Thank you Senator Kennedy for bringing the choice back into the term Pro choice. The best way to lose the fear of DS is to meet someone who has it. http://www.youtube.com/joesvillage
Posted by: sjr | September 1, 2009 11:01 AM
Douthat's piece spoke of Kennedy's abiding faith, how his understanding of Catholocism informed his efforts in areas such as health
care and immigration. There is no getting around the reality that Teddy and Eunice saw abortion differently, that Eunice was in line with
Catholic teaching, and that there is a continuity in the teaching that is evident even to those who favor legal abortion.
It is interesting to know that Teddy Kennedy sought to help parents of DS children. However, those parents with DS children, or normal children for
that matter, who opted to abort had a champion in Teddy Kennedy.
I can though how Douthat's piece would threaten those not quite comfortable with their defense of legalized abortion.
Posted by: martin kennedy | September 1, 2009 11:55 AM
@Martin Kennedy - there may be continuity in the Catholic doctrine against abortion, but there is no mercy or compassion. The Pope recently announced that having an abortion or aiding a woman in obtaining one - for any reason whatsoever - results in automatic excommunication. Save a woman's life by terminating a nonviable fetus, go to Hell. Save another fetus's life by terminating its sibling, go to Hell. Save a nine-year-old rape victim's life by aborting the twins that have no chance of survival... go to Hell. Prenatal Down Syndrome diagnosis? You must carry to term regardless of the support you get, because otherwise you go to Hell.
Which shows more respect for parents - telling them they must carry a DS-diagnosed fetus to term because otherwise they will face eternal torture, or offering them support and information on the reality of DS and living with DS?
Posted by: Wednesday | September 7, 2009 10:43 AM