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In October 2019, during a month celebrated annually since the 1980s as Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Snopes received inquiries about the authenticity of a quote attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump. It was shared in meme form on social media as follows: Those thought to have Down syndrome also risk being subjected to the too-often terminations of their lives before birth. Every human life possesses immeasurable value, and my Administration will continue to embrace and defend the inherent truth that all of God's children should be loved and cherished. The quote is correctly attributed. It consists of two sentences drawn from Trump's Oct. 1 presidential message on Down Syndrome Awareness Month, presented in full below: According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 6,000 babies (1 in 700) are born in the U.S. each year with Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. It affects how an infant's body and brain develop, potentially creating both mental and physical challenges for persons born with the condition. Prenatal screening tests performed beginning at around 10 weeks' gestation can provide an estimate of the risk of a given child being born with Down syndrome, which may then factor into a parental decision to terminate the pregnancy. According to the most recent data available, the rate at which parents choose to terminate a pregnancy after a Down syndrome diagnosis is about 68 percent in the United States. A 2015 study estimated that between 2006 and 2010, approximately 3,100 Down syndrome-related elective pregnancy terminations were performed in the U.S. annually.
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