“Magic Button”

Someone wrote the following a week or two back, on the blogosphere. (SORRY I DON’T REMEMBER WHO.) Two interesting questions:

“Suppose that it was possible to press magic button 1 that would have the result that no more Down's children would be conceived. That somehow the genetics just would never happen again. Not that they would be killed or aborted - just that they would never approach existence. Would you vote to press button 1?
Suppose it was the other way round: that there was no such thing a Down's children. Now we have a magic button 2 which will mean that Down's children will start to be made. The odd one here and there will be conceived, more to older mothers. Will you vote to press button 2?
I'm not 100% sure about button 1, because even Down's children enjoy their lives and I think they bring a great deal to the rest of us, if nothing more than teaching us to be less selfish and more appreciative of the wonders of the world.
But I would not vote for button 2.”

So I have been pondering this ever since seeing it. Frankly, my first inclination is to say I would vote for 1 and not for two, ie , a Down-syndromeless world. I have mentioned many times that I am not a big believer PER SE in Down syndrome. I believe people with Down syndrome, once conceived, have a right to life, and that they deserve respect and opportunities. But I would prefer that my child have the same abilities and chances as everyone else.
I do agree with the above writer that we gain a lot from having kids with Down syndrome in the world. So even though I would vote for button one, G-d didn’t. Now I don’t presume to know why. I can not second-guess G-d. (a BIT out of my league…..) But it is obvious that G-d created a world which we perceive as not being perfect. And cancer, Down syndrome, Mumbai, and financial recession, and that cranky neighbor, all give us a clue at some point that we are not just here to eat more jelly doughnuts than last year.
So in the end, since we are NOT the deciders here, I decided to pass on answering. I really do not have a G-dlike wisdom to decide. I can only choose where I am going from here. What type of mark my actions will leave on the world. A heck of a lot more important, if you ask me.
So my kid has Down syndrome.
So what? Look instead at the mark she is leaving in the world.
I guarantee you, its positive….

[Anyone who disagrees with me is asked to do so civily.]