Neanderthals Cared for Down Syndrome Children
Scientists have discovered the remains of a Neanderthal child with Down syndrome. From the Guardian story:
The survival of this child, beyond the period of breastfeeding, implies group caregiving, probably more extended than parental caregiving, typical of a highly collaborative social context among the members of the group. Otherwise, it is very difficult to explain the survival of this individual up to the age of six years,” said ValentÃn Villaverde, a co-author of the study and an emeritus professor of prehistory at the University of Valencia.
Conde-Valverde said: “The discovery of Tina represents the oldest known case of Down’s syndrome and demonstrates that the diversity observed in modern humans was already present in prehistoric times. This finding ensures that the story of human evolution includes us all.”
Consequences of “Enlightenment”
Such compassion is on the outs in these “enlightened” days. Indeed, it may now be that more babies with Down syndrome are killed in the womb than are born. Indeed, countries such as Iceland have all but eliminated citizens with Down syndrome via prenatal testing and almost universal terminations. Denmark, too.
In the U.S., the numbers are tricky. Some studies claim that the majority of such babies are terminated during gestation. But even if the actual rate is lower, at the very least, the number of people with Down syndrome has been reduced by at least 30 percent with the advent of prenatal testing. And often, genetic counselors push the termination option. Peter Singer argues that if such babies are born, parents should be allowed to have them killed — and yet, despite this bigotry, he is the most celebrated bioethicist in the world.
What a tragedy for these dead precious babies and for us. Perhaps we could learn something from our ancient relatives.
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