This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is pillow Talk with Ali Michelle on the FCB Podcast Network. Welcome back to another episode of pillow Talk with Ali Michelle. I am your host, Ellie Michelle. Today's episode is probably going to upset some people. It's probably going to make some people uncomfortable, and honestly, I'm okay with that, because some conversations are worth having even when they're difficult. Recently, a YouTuber couple mc jugger Nuggets and his wife Ashley recently shared that they chose to terminate their pregnancy after receiving a down syndrome diagnosis. Since then, social media has exploded. People are arguing, people are defending them, people are criticizing them, and now we're hearing claims about death threats and online harassment. And let me read crystal clear from the very beginning. Death threats are wrong. They're disgusting. Nobody deserves to be threatened, Nobody deserves to fear for their safety because of a decision they made. But let's not pretend that's the actual conversation people are trying to have. Okay, the conversation people are trying to have is rather down syndrome diagnosis justifies ending a human life, and on that issue I could not disagree more. What has bothered me most isn't just the decision itself. It's watching how quickly people rush to justify it. The comments all sound the same. They were ready, it would have been too hard. They think about their future. They had to think about the quality of their life. And every time I hear that phrase quality of life, I stop and ask myself the same question. Who gets to decide that? Seriously, who appointed any of us the authority to determine whether another human life's and another human being's life is valuable enough to continue? Who gets to decide that someone else's future isn't worth experiencing? Because that's what we're really talking about. We're going We're not talking about a disease that makes life impossible. We're not talking about a child with no humanity. We're talking about a child with Down syndrome, a child, a human being, a person. And I think that's what gets lost in these conversations. People start talking about diagnosis diagnoses instead of people. They start talking about chromosomes instead of children. They start talking about burdens instead of human beings. In somewhere In that process, society becomes comfortable treating certain lives as less valuable than others. That scares me because, honestly, or I'm sorry, because history has shown us exactly where that mindset can lead. I know some of you listening right now have family members with Down syndrome. Some of you are raising children with Down syndrome, some of your teachers, caregivers, therapists, grandparents, siblings and friends. And I would challenge anyone who thinks a Down syndrome diagnosis automatically means a life isn't worth living to sit down and actually have a conversation with someone who does have Down syndrome. Ask them about their dreams them, ask them about what makes them laugh, ask them about the people they love, Ask them about what makes them joy or I'm sorry, what brings them joy. Because what you'll find is exactly what you'd find talking to anyone else. A human being, a person with value, a person with the emotions, a person deserving of dignity. Yet somehow we've reached a point where people can openly say that wasn't the life we wanted, and that's supposed to end the conversation. But what about the life that a child would have wanted. What about their future? What about their chance? That's the part I get, That's the part I can't get past. Because everybody involved got a choice except that child. The parents had a choice, the doctors had a voice. The internet has opinions, the media has opinions. Everybody gets to speak, everybody gets to explain, everybody gets to justify, except the one person whose life was on the line. That child never got a voice. And that's why, That's exactly why I will continue being a voice for the voiceless. Not because it's popular, not because it's easy, but because somebody has to speak up for people who can't speak for themselves. And when I see people celebrating these decisions are acting like they're no big deal, I cannot stay quiet. Let me correct that I won't stay quiet, because every life matters, not just the convenient lives, not just the lives of society the deans easy. Every life matters in the womb and outside of it, And no diagnosis will ever convince me otherwise. And that is what I have for you today on that topic. It's just a very slippery, slippery slope. I you know, I have family members who has donsondome. I have a family member who's autistic. The quality of their life is so beautiful, But again, who are we to determine what's quality of life? Really? That's what I'm gonna leave with With that, I will talk to you guys on the next one. Don't forget to send this to your friends, your family's, your haters, your lovers. Please, if you haven't ready subscribed to the podcast. My social media Ali underscore Michelle, that's TikTok Ali Underscore Michelle and Instagram Ali Underscore Michelle twelve and I will see you guys on the next one.
