Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) is the proud mother of a son with Down syndrome. She has headlined pro-life events glowing about Cole and how he's made her a better person.
He is so important to her, that she gushed about him during one of her most high profile speeches - her rebuttal to President Obama's 2014 State of the Union address.
“When we looked at our son, we saw possibilities. We saw a Gift from God. Today we see a six-year-old boy who dances to Bruce Springsteen; who reads above grade level; and who is the best big brother in the world. We see all the things he can do, not those he can’t. Cole and his sisters, Grace and Brynn, have only made me more determined to see the potential in every human life – that whether we are born with an extra twenty-first chromosome or without a dollar to our name – we are not defined by our limits, but by our potential.”
Imagine her horror when she read Washington Post Deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus's write-up about how she would not have hesitated to abort a child if her son or daughter had the condition.
"I would've aborted a fetus with Down syndrome. Women need that right," Marcus's headline read.
She explains that while she "admires" parents who choose to give birth to babies with Down syndrome, it's not a choice she could make.
"I can say without hesitation that, tragic as it would have felt and ghastly as a second-trimester abortion would have been, I would have terminated those pregnancies had the testing come back positive."
Marcus concludes that paragraph by noting, "I would have grieved the loss and moved on." She goes on to condemn legislation that outlaws abortion due to Down syndrome diagnoses.
In an emotional Twitter thread, Rodgers tried to convey her feelings on Marcus's op-ed. She again reflected on how much joy Cole has brought her, and shared several names of other people who have the condition, yet have managed to change the world.
They are a reminder to us all that we live in an extraordinary time in which we’re not bound by the conditions of our birth. We should be celebrating what every life has to offer. Every baby has a right to life, period.
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) March 12, 2018