In the Washington Post op-ed piece “Jon Will’s Gift,” conservative columnist George Will uses the occasion of his son’s 40th birthday to reflect on raising a child with Down’s Syndrome. The column is moving, profoundly personal – and blatantly anti-choice.
Perhaps that was Will’s intention; after all, the piece does appear in the paper’s editorial section. Perhaps Will wanted to wrap a touching, lovely tribute to his son in gratuitously anti-choice language; perhaps he decided that shoehorning in a slam against private medical decisions would be more insightful than sharing his unique perspective on parenting a child with special needs, and the challenges and joys that that brings.
