Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Ohio Abortion Law Date:   12/26/2017 11:25:53 AM

This is the problem I have with that law.  Unless the state wants to make each baby born with Down's Syndrome a ward of the state, with the state paying for all care, then let the parents decide.  I have a friend whose daughter was born with Down's Syndrome and Autism.  Since she was born, she has had to have special medical care, special babysitters, special education.  She cannot live at home, because when she hit puberty, she became unmanageable and was put in a special school in Tallassee to learn occupational therapy.  She aged out of that at 21, so now she lives in a group home.  She will never be able to live on her own, never be able to support herself or take care of herself.  She is eligible for Medicaid, but cuts to Medicaid threaten to unfund her.  She will never be a functioning member of society.  Her parents made the deicison not to abort.  But what happens when her parents are no longer around?  They are closing down on the public facilities and there are not many private facilities for people like her.  She is in her twenties now, but her parents are in their 60s.  What will happen to her when they are gone?  it's all fine well and good to decide to "save" the baby, but what is the longterm, reality for these kids? (I realize that there is a spectrum of disability with regard to Down's Syndrome and some people do progress to the point that they can live alone and hold jobs and support themselves.)