There are a lot of things I disagree with George Will about, not the least of which is the way his political ideology rewards him for tossing off a phrase like "this era of casual destruction of pre-born babies."
But his column today on the 40th birthday of is oldest son Jon, who has Down Syndrome, is pretty damn awesome:
The day after Jon was born, a doctor told Jon's parents that the first question for them was whether they intended to take Jon home from the hospital. Nonplussed, they said they thought that is what parents do with newborns. Not doing so was, however, still considered an acceptable choice for parents who might prefer to institutionalize or put up for adoption children thought to have necessarily bleak futures.Jon Will's Gift [washpost]
Where I grew up abortion was unavailable for about a decade because the hospital system was a product of a merger involving a Catholic institution and the city council would rezone every parcel Planned Parenthood tried to buy to prevent them from opening a clinic. The federal courts ultimately had to step in to stop the rezoning shenanigans.
During that decade, it was not uncommon for newborns to be abandoned in public restrooms, under the stairs of apartment complexes, etc. Sad.