One of the most tragic and curious consequences of America’s “culture of death” revolves around the astronomically high abortion rate of children with Down syndrome.

A genetic disorder involving an abnormal cell division resulting in the child receiving an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21, it’s estimated that between 60 and 90% of children diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted in the United States each year. For perspective, approximately 18% of all pregnancies end in abortion.

As we prepare to celebrate and recognize World Down Syndrome Day this coming Thursday, it’s high time to address this genocidal disparity — and challenge those influencing and guiding the conversation with families facing this situation.

Multiple factors are driving parents to abort children with a prenatal diagnosis, and all of them are heartbreaking.

Mothers and fathers are often given bad information. They’re told their son or daughter will be a lifetime burden, that their health will be compromised and that they’ll need around the clock care. To be sure, raising a child with Down syndrome isn’t easy. But as a recent guest on my radio program told me, “Raising a child with a disability is something I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything or anyone in the world.”

Struggle can strengthen and enrich our lives. It adds muscle and significance to our days. It cultivates empathy. It humbles us — and never leaves us the same.

Children with Down syndrome deserve to be celebrated. God often works through those with the condition to teach the rest of us that what He says about the dignity and sanctity of life is true. We’re all created in God’s image and have inestimable worth and significance.

Culturally, there seems to be a huge disconnect over the condition when it comes to decisions made in private compared to popular culture’s renewed appreciation and acknowledgment of the value and dignity of people with Downs.

Golden Globe nominee actor Chris Burke, who has Down syndrome, has appeared in countless television shows and movies. His role of Corky Thatcher on “Life Goes On” has made him a wildly popular face of the movement. He once told Oprah Winfrey, “It’s not about performing disabilities. It’s about performing abilities. That’s the message.”

Chelsea Werner is a Special Olympics gymnast. Madeline Stuart is a model, and Sujeet Desai is an award-winning musician who has performed at Carnegie Hall. All of them have Down syndrome.

Americans have regularly expressed their love, admiration and respect for these individuals. How can we publicly applaud people with the condition and then abort children with a prenatal diagnosis? It’s diabolical.

Mothers who receive a prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome are not being well served. In addition to sharing the challenges, moms and dads should also be briefed on the extraordinary accomplishments and delightful temperaments of children and adults who possess an extra chromosome. They are a blessing, not a burden.

We all must call attention to the genocide of children aborted after their parents receive a prenatal diagnosis. There is nothing compassionate about killing these babies. When I hear some of the sanitized language used to frame the issue, I’m reminded that history is full of people who attempt to use soft words to describe dark deeds. From dictators to authoritarians of all stripes, sin is often spun (i.e., eugenics) to try to make it sound merciful.

But the Scriptures are clear that sin kills, most especially in this case, where it has robbed us of countless precious and beautiful lives.

Abortion advocates have long trumpeted the trope that terminating a pregnancy will prevent future calamity, be it poverty, physical discomfit or even the loss of one’s personal hopes and dreams.

But the last time I checked, nobody ever thought to ask the child whose fate was at stake.

In fact, it was Ronald Reagan who once observed that “Everybody who is for abortion has already been born.”

When a country and press begin celebrating the elimination of a medical condition that’s been eradicated by eliminating the people who possess it, you know a dangerous line has — yet again — been crossed.

Originally published in the Washington Times.