By Kurt Kondrich
Our family recently received a call from the Executive Director of the PA Pro-Life Federation letting us know that we are the recipients of the 2011 Pennsylvania Pro-Life Leadership Award. We were advised that this award is a tangible recognition of the pro-life leadership we have displayed in helping so many people understand the preciousness of every human life, including the lives of those who have what many consider to be disabilities. We were told we have reached so many with a positive message that these lives are special and must be protected and defended at all costs. I advised the director that we were very honored and humbled by this award, and I thanked him for the opportunity to get the message out to a much larger audience. I did however say this award was bittersweet, and it is sad to receive an award for defending the very existence of your child and those like her!
Chloe Emmanuelle Kondrich was born in 2003 with a diagnosis of Down syndrome, and she has taught me and countless others more about the true meaning of life than anyone I know. After Chloes birth I was shocked to learn that 90 percent of children like my beautiful daughter are identified, targeted and terminated prenatally, and this issue as a father has caused me incredible hurt and sadness. How could anyone not want a child like Chloe? If I could just let the world see what a priceless gift Chloe is then maybe I could change hearts and minds.
After Chloes birth my wife was asked several times, Didnt you have the amnio test? Basically what others were saying to my beautiful wife was, Why didnt you have prenatal tests that would have allowed you to identify Chloes defects and terminate her? What a horrible, destructive, demonic comment that reflects the culture of death embraced by our lost society. I cannot imagine this world without Chloes presence, and she has planted more positive seeds, lifted more people up and changed more attitudes in seven years than most do in a lifetime. Chloe moved and inspired me so much that I left my career as a police officer to serve and protect these precious children. This has become my mission, and I pray daily for the strength and guidance only God can give me in this spiritual war.
Chloe is one of the few children with Down syndrome in her very large school district, and I hear this same account of shrinking numbers from parents across the globe. An educational professional once said to me, We havent had many children like Chloe the last several years. When I told her it was because they were terminating 90 percent of children like Chloe prenatally, the professional was stunned. How can we embrace inclusion for individuals with disabilities when they are excluded from entering the world once their disability is diagnosed? If there were railroad cars rounding up and taking these children away to smoke stacks in the distance, would there be a loud protest? In a society obsessed with misconceived characteristics of perfection I often wonder if people would really care, or would they be too busy texting, surfing the web, watching the latest sporting event or focusing on the many unreality shows that infect and destroy minds.
I tell people I am a tortured soul, and I spend many sleepless nights writing and working to defend the very existence of my daughter who is true Light in a very dark culture. Imagine if 90 percent children with brown hair and brown eyes were identified, targeted and eliminated prenatally and you were the proud, loving parent of one of the few survivors. Would you fight to defend your child and let the world know what a gift and blessing your child is? These are the raw emotions that run through my spirit and weary mind every day, and I ask you to join me in spreading the TRUTH about this silent eugenic movement.
If you are in the Pittsburgh area on October 11, 2011, I hope you will join my family at the 2011 PA Celebrate Life Banquet. I want as many people as possible to look into the healthy blue eyes of my daughter Chloe and see that it is TOTALLY unacceptable to eliminate 90 percent of these beautiful children. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. (Luke 11:34)
The body of our culture of death is very unhealthy and clings to the growing darkness. Like spreading cancer there will be a day when curing this unhealthy body is no longer possible. Curing our culture will require pure, incorruptible children like Chloe to open the eyes of our world so people can move from the darkness to the Light. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)
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 of the author and can be found at http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/kondrich/110319.