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A viral clip about aborting a baby with Down syndrome lit up the internet, but the part that matters most to me isn’t the comments section. It’s the question sitting underneath it: what is the unborn, really? As a physician and a dad, I walk through that question with the one person who has made it impossible for our family to keep this debate theoretical our son Thomas, now 26, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome and fought for his life from his first moments. 

Thomas was born on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, rushed to the ICU, and spent his earliest weeks in congestive heart failure before a pediatric heart surgeon repaired his heart. I share what that season looked like in real life, and why those details matter when we talk about prenatal diagnosis, disability, and the choices parents feel pressured to make. Then we shift to what Thomas has taught us over decades: how caregiving forms a servant’s heart, how joy can be louder than fear, and why his simple, wholehearted worship often moves a room full of guarded adults to actually sing. 

From there, I lay out the moral framework I believe we can’t avoid: is the unborn a human being or a potential human being? We talk personhood, the image of God, and why I don’t believe value changes with size, location, age, health, or circumstances of conception. If you care about the abortion debate, Down syndrome advocacy, Christian ethics, or the dignity of human life, this conversation will challenge you and it may change how you speak about it. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a clearer lens, and leave a review with the question you’re still wrestling with.

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