Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers: People with Down syndrome are valuable

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is not just a Congresswoman — she’s a mother to Cole, a little boy who has Down syndrome. So when she read Ruth Marcus’s column in the Washington Post stating how women should have the right to abort their children with Down syndrome, she found the remarks reprehensible. Marcus wrote, in part:

McMorris Rodgers replied, bluntly, in a Facebook video posted by The Daily Signal, that Marcus is “so wrong. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

She continued:

McMorris Rodgers is right. Every person has value. Blake is a business owner with Down syndrome. Charlotte has delivered speeches before the United Nations. Ryan has been involved in missions work. Mikayla has competed in the Miss USA pageant. Valerio saved a girl from drowning.

These people make a difference in the world and in the lives of those around them. They are not defined by their Down syndrome. As Cathy McMorris Rodgers said, they have a purpose, and they have a great deal to offer to the rest of the world.