WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump celebrated Down Syndrome Awareness Month on Thursday with a social media post praising children who have the condition.
“To all of the wonderful Down Syndrome children in our Country, and their parents, who love them so much — You are AMAZING! May God bless you,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“This month is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. To all of the wonderful Down Syndrome children in our Country, and their parents, who love them so much — You are AMAZING! May God bless you.” – President Trump pic.twitter.com/VVrTKvE8Jl
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 23, 2025
According to a 2013 study, almost 99 percent of people with Down syndrome report being happy with their lives. Ninety-six percent like how they look, and 97 percent like who they are. But in 2017, Down syndrome “almost disappeared” in the country of Iceland thanks to abortion. In 2019, only 18 children with Down syndrome were born in the country.
Other countries have experienced this trend as well. In Norway earlier this year, parents spoke out against pressure from medical professionals to abort babies with Down syndrome. A 2025 report indicated that Scotland has also seen “a dramatic rise in abortions involving Down syndrome diagnoses, with government figures showing an 82% increase since 2021.” In 2024, 60 preborn children with Down syndrome were aborted in the country, while in 2021, the number was 33.
The reason for these trends is that medical advances coupled with loosened abortion laws, liberal media coverage, and hostile medical professionals work in tandem to pressure parents to undergo an abortion if their child has Down syndrome. An example of this came in a 2020 article for The Atlantic titled “The Last Children of Down Syndrome,” which highlighted parents who chose to abort their preborn child with Down syndrome because they believed the killing was an act of mercy.
Babies with Down syndrome are targets elsewhere across the world as well. In the United Kingdom, abortion is illegal after 24 weeks unless the child is diagnosed with Down syndrome. According to a report by the Wilberforce Project, a pro-life organization, women who live in Alberta, Canada, are routinely encouraged to undergo screening for Down syndrome, only to be pressured by the medical community to abort their children.
Trump issued a statement that was published on the White House’s website on October 10 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
“Every year, an estimated 5,000 babies — 1 in every 775 — are born in the United States with Down Syndrome. This condition alters the course of a child’s development and causes cognitive delays that bring uncertainty and fear to affected families,” he said. “Thankfully, advancements in research, screening, protocols of care, intervention therapies, and treatments have extended the quality of life and the life span of children and adults living with Down Syndrome.”
“There are now more opportunities than ever before for independence, meaningful employment, and integration into classrooms and communities so that all individuals with Down Syndrome can enjoy full participation in American life,” Trump said.
“This month, I renew my commitment to protecting the health and well-being of all the men, women, and children living with Down Syndrome — and we recommit to forging a culture, a government, and a Nation that upholds the dignity of life and respects the divine spark imprinted on every human soul,” he continued.
At the same time, the Trump administration has come under fire from pro-lifers for his efforts to expand in-vitro fertilization, which immorally discards human embryos. Trump’s FDA has also approved a new generic mifepristone pills made by a company whose mission is to “normalize abortion” and to “make it accessible to all.” Still, pro-lifers have praised Trump for taking efforts to block Planned Parenthood from receiving federal dollars.
The young girl included in Trump’s social media post photo is Valentina Duffy, the daughter of Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy and current Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who previously served in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives from Wisconsin. Campos-Duffy expressed her gratitude to Trump in an X post.
“Thank you, Mr. President! We are so honored & grateful for the love you have shown Valentina. 90% of babies w/Down Syndrome are aborted. You told America’s children: ‘God made you perfectly.’ Thank you for recognizing the humanity of these beautiful children & defending LIFE,” she said.
Thank you, Mr. President!
We are so honored & grateful for the love you have shown Valentina.
90% of babies w/Down Syndrome are aborted. You told America’s children: “God made you perfectly”.
Thank you for recognizing the humanity of these beautiful children & defending LIFE. pic.twitter.com/LyEolOwruG— Rachel Campos-Duffy (@RCamposDuffy) October 24, 2025
Campos-Duffy, a Catholic mother of nine children, has often spoken about the love she has for her Down syndrome daughter. Valentina is “as lovely, as precious, as joyful, as any other child,” Campos-Duffy remarked in 2024. “They have a few little challenges, sometimes medical – some of them are prone to heart conditions, maybe some thyroid stuff,” she said of Down syndrome children before adding that the health issues they face are “very treatable.”
