By Kurt Kondrich
The human heart pumps the LIFE blood all people need to survive, and it is the symbol of love in our society. Two recent news articles about the human heart clearly show how our culture can have a heart for LIFE or a heart for death.
Doctors in California recently operated on the heart of 25-week-old unborn baby to prevent the baby from being born with a life-threatening condition. What a miraculous use of medical technology by brilliant health professionals to heal this unborn child; and doctors said the operation was already showing signs of success. The unborn child was clearly seen as a vulnerable patient needing critical medical attention, and the lifesaving operation for this tiny patient was undeniably very positive. What would people have thought if doctors were told to intentionally terminate the heart of this patient ending the unborn child’s life? Would there be outcry and protests? The sad reality is that heart destroying, LIFE ending medical procedures are occurring on a regular basis.
A recent investigation by the pro-life group Live Action revealed that a late-term abortion clinic in New Mexico shoots babies through the heart with poison to kill them. The very thought of this procedure done on an unborn child should deeply disturb and shock all human beings who recognize LIFE as our most priceless treasure. This “heart for death” our culture has embraced is spreading like impenetrable darkness, and if the human heart can be demolished in prenatal patients, then what will stop this “heart stopping” procedure from occurring to postnatal patients?
I advocate strongly for all LIFE, and I focus on the heart stopping eugenic movement against children diagnosed prenatally with Down syndrome. Approximately half of all infants born with Down syndrome have a heart defect, and successful surgery allows many children with these heart conditions to thrive as well as any child with Down syndrome who is born with a normal heart. This is awesome news for children with Down syndrome who survive to postnatal status, but [more than] 90 percent of these beautiful children receive a heart and life-ending judgment by a misguided culture that views them as “defective.” My incredible daughter Chloe was born with Down syndrome and, in 10 years, her light has broken through more darkness than most people do in a lifetime. Chloe’s heart is filled with an unconditional love, kindness, purity, and empathy our self-centered world desperately needs, and I pray people across the globe have a change of heart and embrace ALL LIFE—prenatal and postnatal. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see “I HEART LIFE!” billboards and bumper stickers proudly displayed everywhere?
One of my favorite classic stories is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It took the voices and kindness of the people in Whoville to change, enlarge, and fill the Grinch’s heart with love and goodness; and the beat of an unborn child’s heart is often the sound needed to transform a person’s heart from focusing on death to embracing life. We will soon be entering the Christmas season when we remember the greatest prenatal child ever to be born into this world—Jesus Christ—and as we celebrate His birth, let us focus our hearts on the irreplaceable treasure of Human LIFE.
Kurt Kondrich is the father of a beautiful daughter who has Down syndrome and who has been a priceless blessing to his family and community. When Kurt became aware of the higher than 90 percent abortion rate for children prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome, he literally could not sleep at night. In early August 2008, he had a disturbing dream about people with disabilities being exterminated and, after praying, he came up with the name SADSIN (Stop Aborting Down Syndrome Individuals Now) for a web site to defend and protect children with Down syndrome. He has since embarked on a mission to make sure people are aware of this genocide. He wants people to see the beautiful faces of our kids and realize the priceless blessings and gifts they are to a society that has lost focus.
This article has been reprinted with permission and can be found at http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kondrich/131119.