The Final Frontier - The Destruction of Our Future
"Space...the final frontier." These are the words that start every episode of the original Star Trek series, quickly and descriptively pulling viewers into the world of the Enterprise and setting the stage for the adventure to come. While there isn't enough time in the day to explore the imprint Star Trek has left on our world, everyone reading this is at least familiar with its cultural-icon status. First introduced in 1966 by Gene Rodenberry as he sought to expand the sci-fi genre made popular in the 1950s, Star Trek was an odd show that balanced reverence for and inspiration from old sci-fi titles like The Phantom Planet and The Day Mars Invaded Earth with its own innovative vison of space travel. It drew on a more realistic exploration of space and grounded itself in reality and legitimate issues that the audience would have recognized from its own daily experience. So much so that Star Trek had a tangibility that pushed imaginations further than ever before. As an interesting addition to the sci-fi genre, the show also pushed the limits of what as "correct" to show on screen, often depicting interracial relationships and disabilities in the workplace, but even those story beats did not batter the audience with a need for validation. Instead, the differences were simply there, having been already accepted and accommodated.
In a sense, Star Trek has had a lasting impact because it as about being the best we could possibly be as humans and explorers. It taught the simple lessons of working together (even with other species) and welcoming everyone regardless of ability. And in the end it was about constantly striving to understand what we do not yet know.
But, if this is the kind of future we admire, one built on mutual understanding, acceptance of everyone, and accommodations for those with challenges (to the point where those challenges no longer hinder people), why is our current culture actively destroying that future and its ideals by targeting those individuals who should inspire innovation and forward thinking in the rest of us?
The abortion rate for children prenatally diagnosed with disabilities or an illness is staggeringly high in the United States. While the numbers are high everywhere, as countries push to enter a new age of "advancement," America abuses the system to a horrifying degree. Though every reason for abortion is terrible and can never justify the murder of a child, abortion on the basis of perceived inability is one of the most egregious, as it perpetuates the lie that someone born different will never have a normal life and, therefore, doesn't even deserve a chance to try.
In a world where conformity is praised and no one is willing to look beyond themselves to help their neighbors, thousands of children have been murdered because their lives would have looked a little bit different than those around them. The majority of children with spina bifida are aborted, 60 - 90% of children diagnosed with Down Syndrome are killed, and even a high amount of misdiagnoses are aborted rather than corrected. What sort of world do we live in where it is all right to pick and choose who is worthy of life? Is our society so warped that it allows discrimination on the basis of perceived imperfection? Are our communities so selfish that they are willing to push the "easy" option rather than setting up infrastructure and services for those with special needs? Are parents so vain that they will only accept a factory-perfect child who doesn't inconvenience them?
But this goes beyond communities' need for perfection and parents' choice to abort their children because they "won't have a normal life." Doctors are pushing for abortion the moment they discover an unfavorable diagnosis. In case after case, doctors have sat parents down to deliver the bad news before immediately offering the option to abort in favor of "trying again for a healthy baby." Neglecting to offer any hopeful information, doctors instead choose to list every negative experience and developmental delay that the child may have, preying on the confusion and high emotions of the moment. Other options are never discussed and, as a result, though all parents should fight to protect their children, many feel that doctors must know best. In a moment, a baby goes from a person to a clump of cells who is only worth its addition to the abortion stats.
Ability-based abortions are a destruction of the unique joy that millions of children could have brought us and, with it, the destruction of our country's soul and any chance of reaching that final frontier. We are not capable of exploring the new if we can't protect that which is right in front of us. We will not advance if we can't accept the differences that make us great. How can we create that wonderful future if we actively destroy the makers of it every single day?
Photo Credit: Pinterest
Sources: Wikipedia, National Library of Medicine
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