From Australia comes the story of a German physician who is being forced to leave the country because his son has Down syndrome. Dr. Moeller moved to Australia to fill an urgent need for physicians. Now the Aussie government has deemed his family undesirable because his son Lukas is perceived as a drain on the resources ($$$) of their adopted home.

Fortunately, not everyone agrees with the bureaucratic lunacy. Unfortunately, there may be nothing they can do about it.

What a step terrible backwards.

It scares me that I can so easily imagine many, many people in this country agreeing with the Australian government’s decision. Why should the ordinary folk, the legal citizens, be expected to support some other bloke’s disabled kid?

It is a short step from that (terribly wrong-headed) thinking to thinking it’s acceptable to lobby for fewer supports in all forms for all people with conditions that can be diagnosed prenatally. Because, you know, it can be prevented and hey, if the parents want to have a baby like that, then good for them, just don’t expect us to pay for it. <retch> <sorry, it makes me ill to even type that>

I don’t know about them, but I was raised to care about other people. To even, gasp, consider it as my duty to extend my heart, hand, and resources to those who need it. That’s what it means to live in a society and a community. We care for each other. I have not always done the best job of it, through inactivity, but I can’t let these things go unspoken. I can’t look the other way, or say I don’t have the time or ability or spare change any longer. 

Not when boys like Lukas are being treated like this.