In 2017, a man named Frank Stephens testified before Congress to discuss the notion of whether not people with Down Syndrome should have been aborted.

Screengrab via YouTube video

Frank isn’t just any Joe Schmoe giving his opinion. He is a man with Down Syndrome. Furthermore, he’s a Special Olympian, and he wanted people to acknowledge his right to life.

Here’s the video that Kutcher shared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQJEoRhkapw

Here is the transcript of what Frank told Congress.

“Whatever you learn today, please remember this,” said Stephens in his testimony, “I am a man with Down Syndrome and my life is worth living.”

“Sadly, across the world, a notion is being sold that maybe we don’t need research concerning Down Syndrome,” he explained. “Some people say prenatal screens will identify Down Syndrome in the womb and those pregnancies will just be terminated.”

“It’s hard for me to sit here and say those words,” he added.

Kutcher unintentionally stirred up controversy when he shared the video on Facebook. His post has been shared hundreds of thousands of times and has more than 7,000 comments. Later, he shared this post and is clearly frustrated.

It seems my posting of Frank Stephen’s moving testimony has turned into a partisan recruiting campaign. Stop! Let’s make it a thinking campaign.
I don’t see the issue of embryonic screening as a simple pro-life vs. pro-choice issue. In fact, I really don’t see abortion as a simple black and white issue. There are nuances to both arguments, and as with most things, in this bipartisan political and media landscape – we like to over-simplify complicated issues into 2 base arguments and pick sides. Then we recruit people to our side that we celebrate or we publicly troll those who oppose.
We are genetically diverse as a species by design, for generational survival, and should think very carefully about how we regulate these sciences. This idea of non-dominant outcomes being inferior and non-desirable traits being negative, and then selected – is a very slippery slope that looks a lot like embryonic eugenics and that scares me. To be clear, I am generally against the government regulating a woman’s medical choices. The Government is not church. There is a reason why this topic has had decades of political debate. It’s because it’s not black and white, or red and blue. It’s grey, it’s nuanced, it’s complicated, and because of science, it’s changing. So let’s stops recruiting captains for our teams and start unpacking the complications to make the best choices for our future.

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He’s right. It’s a complicated issue. However, no one can argue with Frank’s right to live. Frank pointed out how valuable people with Down Syndrome are to society.

Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher posted a powerful video on Facebook related to abortion, and it has garnered millions of views.

The video was testimony from actor and Special Olympian Frank Stephens before Congress in 2017 where he defeated the notion that babies with Down Syndrome should be aborted by forcing those listening to acknowledge his right to life.

“Whatever you learn today, please remember this,” said Stephens in his testimony, “I am a man with Down Syndrome and my life is worth living.”

“Sadly, across the world, a notion is being sold that maybe we don’t need research concerning Down Syndrome,” he explained. “Some people say prenatal screens will identify Down Syndrome in the womb and those pregnancies will just be terminated.”

“It’s hard for me to sit here and say those words,” he added.

Stephens went on to explain how people with Down Syndrome can lead full and satisfying lives. He also argued that the condition helps doctors understand other medical diseases in order to help defeat them.