life affirmed

There's something terribly life-affirming about this news from the BBC:

Down's births rise despite tests

More Down's syndrome babies are being born than before pre-natal screening became widespread, figures show. The UK saw 749 Down's births in 2006, up from 717 in 1989 when tests came in.

I'm not a parent. I don't have close friends or family who have the joys and pains of children with disabilities or learning difficulties. So in many ways I'm not qualified to pass comment on others' decisions.

But there is something there which lifts the soul, and gives you confidence that actually our shared sense of morality as a society is not completely unravelling. The article is woeful because it doesn't count the number of abortions, or miscarriages, or whatever, and the "rise" is probably not statistically significant. Affirming human life is good; learning to care for the weak and the needy, and the just plain different, is a way we show the spark of God's image in us.