Let's help this poor guy out-updated.

This gentleman has been stuck in the same job for 35 years and has been unable to professionally develop. After meeting a family who had a child with DS and deducing their life had been ruined, he is suggesting that all children prenatally diagnosed with DS should be terminated.

Here is the article from my local DS newsletter.
Notice the address, email, and phone number at the bottom, you can give him a hand in undertanding what the reality is.
Personally, I'm going to email him this blog address :)

UNIVERSITY OF N.C. PROFESSOR SUGGESTS ABORTION FOR BABIES WITH DOWN
SYNDROME
A University of North Carolina Professor is under fire for
suggesting that parents who discover their unborn child will have Down syndrome
should have abortions. The comments offended one student who has a brother with
Down syndrome and highlighted attempts by disability groups to head off abortion
as a solution to the disability.Professor Albert Harris told his Embryology
students last week that babies who have Down syndrome should be aborted."In my
opinion, the moral thing for older mothers to do is to have amniocentesis, as
soon during pregnancy as is safe for the fetus, test whether placental cells
have a third chromosome #21, and abort the fetus if it does," he said, according
to a Raleigh, North Carolina new report.Harris has taught at the college for 35
years and he told the newspaper he's made the pro-abortion statement several
times before in an attempt to spark discussion."I know somebody who had a child
like this, and it ruined their life," he said.Ironically, he also indicated he
likely wouldn't have an abortion if he and his wife were pregnant with a baby
with a disability.A senior in the biology class told a local newspaper that the
comment offended her because she has a brother with Down syndrome. "Biology is
not an opinion subject," she said. "It's a facts-based subject. And though
abortion is legal, it's not a fact that you should abort every baby with Down
syndrome."Professor Harris' comments comes at a time when MHDSA and many other
Down syndrome advocacy groups across the country are dealing with the American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which has suggested all pregnant
women test for disabilities and consider abortion.Research shows that up to 90%
of pregnancies end in abortion when a baby with Down syndrome is involved.We are
asking for MHDSA families and self-advocates to write to Professor Harris and
UNC Chancellor James Oblinger, explaining why their lives are fulfilling and
have value to the community. Don't forget photos!

Professor HarrisOffice of
the Chancellor

103 South Building,

Campus Box 9100

Chapel Hill, NC 27599-9100
mailto:27599-9100chancellor@unc.edu

call (919) 962-1365 or fax (919) 962-1647

As I mentioned, I sent an email to the university and, just for your own entertainment, here is the exchanges that have taken place:

Greetings Professor Harris,

In the interest of keeping you
apprised of up-to-date information regarding children with DS and their impact
on a family and society at large, I am providing you a link to my blog. I
maintain this blog as an opportunity to educate and inform. I am aware
that when confronted with a prenatal diagnosis, or upon the birth of a child
with DS, most parents want as much correct information as possible. I assume
that is also true for you, as an educator.

It has been my
experience that those who do not choose to include a child with DS in their
family do so mostly out of fear, fear that most commonly stems from
misunderstanding. I too, know many families in crisis. Families that have
been ruined. None of them have a child with Down Syndrome. Families
disintegrate for many complex reasons. I hope you are a able to realize
that. My blog actually sites a new study that shows a lower divorce rate
among families that include a child with DS.

I understand that you
want to start discussion with your inflammatory statements, but they still leave
an impression that my son is somehow worth less. The way he impacts people
he meets everyday speaks very much in contrast to your assumptions, made from
such a very limited experience.

So please, give us a visit
and enjoy learning about a life of "a little extra"

http://www.willswebplace.blogspot.com/

Regards,

Here is the canned reply I received:

Thank you for taking the time to write and let us know that you were offended by
the statement that our biology professor made. We at the University are guided
by the principles of academic freedom, and our understanding is that Professor
Harris was trying to illustrate the ethical and moral questions that science
sometimes presents. Nevertheless, his comments were insensitive and hurtful,
particularly to those whose lives have been enriched by a child or family member
with Down syndrome.

Sincerely,

Nancy Davis
Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations
The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill

Here is my reply:

Ms. Davis,

The fact that my child can be so easily dismissed as though
he were an hypothetical case study being bandied about by a whole room of people
who have absolutely no first hand knowledge on the subject is totally contrary
to any principals of academic freedom. It is an example of pure ignorance and
lack of intelligence. You are doing nothing more than armchair commentary and I
would like the students listening to be made aware of their professor's limited
knowledge of the subject beforehand. There are many parents who volunteer to
lecture at various universities and I'm certain that a local DS group could put
you in touch with some of these people. You may also be unaware that a number of
esteemed professors, who are also parents of a child with T21, could be of some
aid here.

If you want to be authentically academic, please introduce all
participants to someone with T21, then proceed with the academic discourse.

Respectfully,

Now let's review this. A university professor with embarrassingly little knowledge on a subject, lectures and opines to a large group of students, who have no knowledge on the subject. When it is discovered that indeed, one student does have first hand knowledge and experience on the subject she is told to hold her opinions to herself and the group of know-nothings actually votes to proceed with this now blindingly assinine lecture.

That is brilliantly ironic, the group of know-nothings voting to dismiss the facts, to carry on denigrating people who they perceive to be so know-nothing they should be given the permanent dismissal. Oh, the esteem of higher education. I'm certain the wisdom, morality and rational coming out of this not-so-academic discussion would make Plato proud.

This is then called "academic freedom" by the university. That's the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for those of you university shopping.