London, England, Jun 26, 2019 / 12:10 pm
In the face of an increasingly 'eugenic' mentality toward people with disabilities in Europe -- exemplified in the recent overturned forced abortion case -- a Catholic disability expert says parishes should be looking at how to further support people with disabilities and their families.
"Each and every person has been created in the image of God. There is no decision made about who can or cannot be born -- that's God's choice," disability theology specialist Cristina Gangemi told CNA.
"It is a type of eugenics here where they are beginning to say for the 'well-being' of this person who 'cannot' go through birth, who 'cannot' look after the child, the best thing to do is to kill their offspring," she said.
Gangemi is the director of the UK-based Kairos Forum, a consultancy that helps communities and organizations respond to the educational and spiritual needs of people with disabilities. For the past 25 years, Gangemi has worked with people with intellectual disabilities, like the woman involved in the recent attempted forced abortion case.