A few weeks back, Richard Dawkins got the Twittersphere up in arms. When a woman asked what she should do with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, Dawkins replied, “Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.” He provoked a somewhat predictable outcry from parents of children with Down syndrome and the general population alike.
Not surprisingly, conservative writers took up the cause. J.D. Flynn, writing An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins in First Things, invited Dawkins to join him and his family, including his daughters with Down syndrome, for dinner. Matthew Hennessey wrote along similar lines for The National Review about the joy his daughter with Down syndrome has brought into their family. More liberal news outlets joined the cry against Dawkins as well. Writing for The Daily Beast, Elizabeth Picciuto deconstructed Dawkins’ argument in Why Richard Dawkins Would Fail Philosophy 101. In the New York Times, Jamie Edgan and Fabian Fernandez pointed out The Truth About Down Syndrome, citing statistics about children with Down syndrome and their families which bely Dawkins’ own contentions.
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