{"id":30593,"date":"2024-03-07T19:16:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=30593"},"modified":"2024-03-07T19:22:08","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:22:08","slug":"dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Megan Crowley, March 7, 2024, RealClear Policy<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a teenager, I described myself as the \u201clittle girl who can\u2019t walk, but always smiles.\u201d I reflected on this youthful characterization often throughout the past month \u2013 ever since I learned that the Bidens invited Kate Cox to the upcoming State of the Union as their special guest. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate Cox<\/a>\u202fis a Texas mom who chose abortion after learning that her preborn baby had Trisomy 18, a condition that increases the risk of stillbirth, or infant death shortly after birth. Though Texas law prohibits abortions, it mimics all other pro-life laws\u202fin providing exceptions for medical emergencies endangering mothers\u2019 lives. It allows doctors to use their medical judgment to perform an abortion if the medical emergency puts a mother at risk of losing a major bodily function, of which 71 such abortions have occurred in Texas since Dobbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the media’s inaccurate portrayal, Ms. Cox was seeking an abortion because her child had a disability. Texas law protects unborn babies from disability discrimination abortion. She decided to travel out of state to obtain an abortion and became active in the raging national abortion debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics aside, my heart goes out to Kate and her child. Having a child with a significant disability is daunting \u2013 which my parents quickly learned when I was diagnosed with Pompe disease at just 15 months old. Pompe disease is a rare, genetic, and life-threatening condition that causes muscle weakness, in the heart especially and causes significant breathing problems. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pompe disease used to be a death sentence for most children. Many babies diagnosed with it don\u2019t survive beyond early childhood,<\/a>\u202fif even the age of 2. When my parents\u2019 doctor told them I had Pompe disease, he also told them to go home and enjoy the time that they had with me. \u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank God they had hope in a better future for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My parents, especially my father, fought to find effective treatment avenues for me and spent my whole childhood loving and supporting me. Thanks to their selflessness, I\u2019ve lived 27 joyful years. I defied expectations by achieving my bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2019 and receiving my master’s in social work at UNC Chapel Hill in 2021. All the while in a wheelchair and needing a ventilator to breathe. Now I work full-time for Make-A-Wish New Jersey as Assistant Director of Mission Integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if I didn\u2019t go to college or have a great job, my life would still be worth living. My parents\u2019 awareness of this reality inspired them to fight to give me and my brother the best and most normal life possible, even though I wasn\u2019t \u201cculturally perfect\u201d or \u201cvaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My parent\u2019s love and support contrasts sharply with the media\u2019s narrative that disability is a death sentence \u2013 a narrative already disproven by advances in medicine and technology that are actively increasing rates of survival for babies with life-threatening conditions. Moreover, contrary to popular fearmongering, most fetal conditions<\/a>\u202fdon\u2019t endanger moms<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tragically, President Biden and pro-abortion Democrats are stoking panic and fear throughout the nation to garner support for their vision of abortion on demand, without limit \u2013 even up until the moment of birth. \u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They quickly exploited Kate Cox and her unborn daughter\u2019s tragedy for this purpose. Noticeably, their agitated discussions excluded ideas on how society could support and encourage women like Kate aside from abortion. Simply stated, they chose not to favor life and all its wonderful potential for children born with a significant disability. They also operated on the assumption that Kate\u2019s child \u2013 and any child diagnosed with Trisomy 18 \u2013 could never live a happy life.\u202fAccording to them, people like me aren\u2019t even worth the effort. In so doing, they demean the lives of so many who live, love and thrive despite their genetic disorders and disabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far too many women are pressured into abortion because of diagnoses like Trisomy 18 and other rare diseases. They are fed the lie that pro-life laws endanger their own lives, and that babies with disabilities are better off not even being born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is that many babies diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and other serious conditions go on to defy expectations<\/a>. When Trisomy 18 babies receive appropriate care and intervention, over 80% survive<\/a>\u202funtil discharge and nearly 60% live until at least their first birthday. Just look at Faith Smith,<\/a>\u202fwhose parents\u202fwere\u202fpressured to abort her when she was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Instead, Faith\u2019s parents pursued proper medical care for her. Today, she is a teenager, living a beautiful life with her loving parents and four siblings. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish that President Biden would highlight uplifting stories like ours at the State of the Union and encourage Americans to have hope in the face of these difficult situations, and to respect and appreciate the awesome beauty, value and dignity of each human life. Sadly, the Bidens will instead use Kate Cox\u2019s tragedy for political gain.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our nation\u2019s women and children deserve better. Women like Kate Cox deserve to know how abundantly their children can \u2013 and will \u2013 <\/em>live if they are willing to meet them and give them a chance. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My life is not perfect, yet even as a teenager, I recognized\u202fthat my worth, happiness, and existence were independent of my physical capabilities. Even though I was a \u201clittle girl who couldn\u2019t walk,\u201d I was a little girl who \u201calways smiled.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every child is perfectly functional or healthy. Yet every child\u2019s life will shine light and joy on those who are willing to accept the responsibility of loving them.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Crowley, born with Pompe disease, is now a 27-year-old Notre Dame graduate who also achieved her master’s in social work at UNC Chapel Hill in 2021. She now works full-time for Make-A-Wish New Jersey as Assistant Director of Mission Integration. Megan and her father\u2019s story was chronicled in a book,  \u201cThe Cure,\u201d<\/a> and inspired the movie \u201cExtraordinary Measures\u201d starring Harrison Ford.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Megan Crowley, March 7, 2024, RealClear Policy As a teenager, I described myself as the \u201clittle girl who can\u2019t walk, but always smiles.\u201d I reflected on this youthful characterization often throughout the past month \u2013 ever since I learned that the Bidens invited Kate Cox to the upcoming State of the Union as their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Megan Crowley, March 7, 2024, RealClear Policy As a teenager, I described myself as the \u201clittle girl who can\u2019t walk, but always smiles.\u201d I reflected on this youthful characterization often throughout the past month \u2013 ever since I learned that the Bidens invited Kate Cox to the upcoming State of the Union as their…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T19:16:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T19:22:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie Wade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie Wade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/\",\"name\":\"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-07T19:16:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-07T19:22:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/\",\"name\":\"Cincinnati Right to Life\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789\",\"name\":\"Melanie Wade\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie Wade\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/author\/mwade\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life","og_description":"By Megan Crowley, March 7, 2024, RealClear Policy As a teenager, I described myself as the \u201clittle girl who can\u2019t walk, but always smiles.\u201d I reflected on this youthful characterization often throughout the past month \u2013 ever since I learned that the Bidens invited Kate Cox to the upcoming State of the Union as their…","og_url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/","og_site_name":"Cincinnati Right to Life","article_published_time":"2024-03-07T19:16:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-07T19:22:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Melanie Wade","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie Wade","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/","name":"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living - Cincinnati Right to Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png","datePublished":"2024-03-07T19:16:58+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-07T19:22:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Mr.-President.png","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/dear-mr-president-my-life-is-worth-living\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dear Mr. President, My Life Is Worth Living"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/","name":"Cincinnati Right to Life","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789","name":"Melanie Wade","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie Wade"},"url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/author\/mwade\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30593"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30597,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30593\/revisions\/30597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}