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NEWS ABOUT: Down Syndrome

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Sarah Palin: Why Trig Is a Blessing

Palin reflects on life with a special-needs child

(Newser) - When Sarah Palin learned her baby, Trig, would be born with Down syndrome, she was so scared she "dared not discuss my pregnancy for many months," she writes in the Daily Beast . "All I could seem to muster was a calling out to God to prepare my... More »

Gervais Infuriates Down Syndrome Groups

Old slur 'doesn't mean what it used to,' he says

(Newser) - Ricky Gervais has done it again. The boundary-busting, always irreverent funnyman has been accused of using a slur associated with people with Down syndrome on Twitter ( here , here , and here )—and making goofy faces to go with the tweets. He was instantly called out on it, reports ABC... More »

Tab: Jolie-Pitt Twins Have Down Syndrome

Enquirer's making stories up now, retorts blogger

(Newser) - Taking a break from the tawdry affairs of Democrats , the National Enquirer turns its, er, unique brand of investigative journalism to Down Syndrome and the important unanswerable question of whether two pint-size Jolie-Pitts, Knox and Vivienne, have it. The cover-worthy story, it seems, is that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie... More »

Doc Who Aborted Wrong Fetus Loses License

Ob-gyn terminated healthy twin in first attempt at procedure

(Newser) - It sounds too awful to be true: A mom who had undergone in vitro fertilization learns that one of the twins she's carrying has congenital defects, and opts to abort it. Her doctor performs the procedure—but aborts the wrong fetus. So goes the case of Sarasota doctor Matthew Kachinas,... More »

Down Syndrome Family Guy Actress Rips Palin for 'Using' Trig

'She carries son like loaf of bread, looking for sympathy'

(Newser) - The actress with Down syndrome at the center of a Family Guy-Sarah Palin feud has slammed the one-time VP candidate for carrying around her son "like a loaf of French bread, looking for sympathy and votes." Andrea Fay Friedman was the voice of Chris Griffin's date on a... More »

Palin Rips Fox's Family Guy on Fox

Talks to Bill O'Reilly about 'cruel, cold-hearted people'

(Newser) - Sarah Palin continued to chide Fox's Family Guy...on Fox. Speaking to Bill O'Reilly last night, she acknowledged "this world is full of cruel, cold-hearted people." Trig, on the other hand, has a "heart of gold," and while when "I look at Trig and I... More »

You're Right, Palins: Family Guy Writers Are Jerks

Williams reluctantly agrees that Trig gag was just tasteless

(Newser) - Mary Elizabeth Williams would like Family Guy to tone down its shtick a bit, because she agrees with Sarah and Bristol Palin that the show poked unnecessary fun at son Trig...and “I don’t want to have to find myself agreeing with Sarah Palin again for a long... More »

Family Guy Takes on Trig Palin

Female Down's syndrome character mentions Palin-like mom

(Newser) - Now that Family Guy has taken on Trig Palin, can a demand by his mom on Facebook that the program be yanked be far behind? The popular TV series waded into treacherous waters yesterday with an episode in which a bossy female character with Down's syndrome dating Chris Griffin mentions... More »

Be Careful, Sarah Palin, You're Exploiting Trig

She needs to pull back from using him as a political tool

(Newser) - Kathleen Parker offers some "mother to mother" advice to Sarah Palin in her column today: "Be careful" about using Trig as a political weapon. "Each time she sallies forth as Mama Bear to America's special-needs citizenry, invoking Trig's name amid demands for her children's privacy, a tiny... More »

Palin Wants Emanuel Fired for Using the R-Word

Calling Democrats 'retarded' is on par with the N-word

(Newser) - Sarah Palin wielded her Facebook page last night to call for the head of Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly called some liberal groups “fucking retarded” during a closed-door health care strategy meeting in August. Palin likens the chief of staff's comment to using the “N-word,” and urges President... More »

Down Syndrome on Decline as Moms Abort

Trend bucks statistics, raises fears that funding will dry up

(Newser) - With women waiting longer to have children, the number of Down syndrome cases in the US ought to be on the rise—advanced maternal age increases Down syndrome risk. But instead it fell 15% from 1989 to 2005, ABC News reports. The reason: prenatal screenings. Roughly 92% of women who... More »

Easier Prenatal Tests May Replace Invasive Amnio

(Newser) - Amniocentesis may become a thing of the past, as new procedures are developed that can non-invasively but definitively test for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities, writes Amanda Schaffer for DoubleX. The procedures, expected to be available in the next few years, take advantage of a recent discovery: Early in... More »

Fetuses Form Memories: Study

At 30 weeks, have 10-minute memory

(Newser) - Fetuses can form memories, an important indicator of nervous-system maturation that may help doctors detect developmental problems, Dutch researchers say. Fetuses exposed to sound and vibration for 1 second every 30 seconds became accustomed to the stimuli, a process known as habituation. "Habituation is a form of learning,"... More »

Down Syndrome Gene Holds Cancer Clue

Downs patients long seen to have lower deadly tumor risk

(Newser) - Scientists have noticed for years that Down syndrome patients are far less likely to die from solid tumors—and now, scientists in Boston think they know why. Down syndrome patients’ extra chromosome holds a gene that helps cut blood flow to tumors, restricting their growth, the Globe reports. “Individuals... More »

Palin Talks of 'Choice' When She Would Take It Away

(Newser) - Sarah Palin continues to inadvertently make pro-choice arguments as she campaigns for a ban on abortion, Ruth Marcus writes in the Washington Post. After revealing that she twice considered aborting son Trig, Palin said “I do understand what these women, what these girls go through in that thought process.... More »

Palin Visits Midwest, Blasts Obama

In speech to right-to-life group, gov gets emotional over Trig

(Newser) - Amid complaints from the Alaska legislature that she's is spending more time cultivating her image than running her state, Sarah Palin gave a rousing speech before a right-to-life group in Indiana last night the Evansville Courier & Press reports. Speaking of her son Trig, whom she called "a miracle,... More »

Safer Down Syndrome Tests Give Birth to Ethics Fears

Procedures look safer, more accurate, but raise ethics concerns

(Newser) - New tests to detect Down syndrome early in pregnancy look highly promising to some experts—but they’re prompting new ethical and medical questions, the Washington Post reports. The procedures, to be publicly available in June, appear safer and more accurate than current options. But Down syndrome and anti-abortion activists... More »

New MTV News Show Puts Disabled in Control

New MTV show a surprising success

(Newser) - A new MTV show that features the mentally disabled interviewing celebs and average folks, isn’t as offensive as it sounds, Ellen Gray writes in the Philadelphia Daily News. The show—How's Your News? from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is actually an inclusive endeavor that proves... More »

Palin's Critics Bitter Over Own Abortions

'Grief, shame, and guilt' spur attacks on Republican candidate

(Newser) - The attacks lobbed at Sarah Palin have less to do with the candidate herself and more with the shame, guilt, and grief of the post-abortion community, the co-founder of an anti-abortion group writes in the National Review. Kevin Burke says Palin inspires such vitriol because she chose to have a... More »

Down Syndrome Teen Voted Homecoming Queen

'Her smile was as big as Texas,' aunt says

(Newser) - There wasn't a dry eye in the house when a Texas football stadium erupted into wild cheers last weekend to honor their homecoming queen, a pretty 18-year-old high school senior with Down syndrome. "Her smile was as big as the state of Texas," queen Kristin Pass' aunt told... More »

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