I asked a friend who has a child with Down Syndrome if the aborting of these kids makes him uneasy. He said that was an understantement. In large part, it’s because the selective abortion of kids with Down Syndrome sends a clear and destructive message to kids and adults with Down Syndrome. That message is, “We are better off without you.” We are literally telling human beings that they should not exist, that they are too much of a burden on parents and society. That idea is, in a word, evil.

Evil doesn’t come with a dark cape and a menacing cackle, it comes with a quiet acquiescence to our powerlessness to do anything but serve our own pleasure and desire. We can give in to that. We can say “It’s too much for me. I can’t handle a kid who is such a burden.” Even when a perfectly healthy 10-year-old has an accident and becomes paralyzed, a parent can say “I can’t handle this,” and abandon her child. But surely that is no decision to celebrate — or is it?

Maybe prospective parents should believe and accept that a Down Syndrome child is a bridge too far, a responsibility that is unfair and should be abandoned. But here’s the thing on that. People with Down Syndrome are not a burden on society. They don’t stand in the way of some perfect population that will end all human suffering and blah, blah, blah. Frankly, a lot of Down Syndrome people are better than a lot of other people are. And the idea that they shouldn’t exist is chilling and horrifying.