University professor Dr. Chris Gabbard used to believe that some human beings should be allowed or even encouraged to die. In his own words, Gabbard "grew up prizing intellectual aptitude … and detesting 'poor mental functioning.'" This led Gabbard to adopt the ethics of the contemporary philosopher Peter Singer, who argues that society has a right to exclude people who are not "persons." For instance, Singer and Gabbard believed that severely disabled people should either be killed or allowed to die.

But the birth of Gabbard's son radically changed his viewpoint. During childbirth, his son experienced permanent brain damage, and today he is a blind quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Gabbard writes movingly about the first time he saw his newborn son in the intensive-care unit:

After his birth … I was deeply ambivalent, having been persuaded by [Peter Singer's] advocacy of … infanticide. But there was my son, asleep or unconscious, on a ventilator, motionless under a heat lamp, tubes and wires everywhere, monitors alongside his steel and transparent-plastic crib. What most stirred me was the way he resembled me. Nothing had prepared me for this shock of recognition, for he was the boy in my own baby pictures, the image of me when I was an infant.

Today Gabbard is an advocate for the inherent dignity of severely disabled human beings. After pointing to a 2010 Gallup poll* that says that nearly half of Americans (46 percent) support assisted suicides, Gabbard writes, "Many such well-meaning people would like to end my son's suffering, but they do not stop to consider whether he is actually suffering. At times he is uncomfortable, yes, but the only real pain here seems to be the pain of those who cannot bear the thought that people like [my son] exist."

The story of Dr. Gabbard's change of heart serves as a powerful reminder of the inherent dignity of every human being as made in the image of God.

*The latest statistic, as of 2/2/24, now shows that 55% of Americans consider doctor assisted suicide morally acceptable