NCR Today

I read a troubling essay by Tucker Carson on Slate that links prenatal testing for Down syndrome and abortion. Carson wrote it in 1996.

Simply summarized, as testing for genetic birth defects has improved, fetuses with those defects are being aborted.

My heart aches for the parents making the decision for abortion. I ache, too, for the loss within our community of persons with Down syndrome, loving individuals who need a lifetime of care.

That care is expensive. And it gets more expensive as the person grows older, ages out of the school system and continues to need some degree of supervision. I would be very happy to get rid of our nuclear weapons and nuclear delivery systems and earmark the money for care of everyone in our society with disabilities.

That's it in a nutshell. I want children with disabilities to be born, and I want their parents to be confident the children will receive the lifelong care they need.

Only days after a desperate and urgent fundraising appeal letter seeking more than $600,000 in the next two weeks was sent to donors , Fr. Frank Pavone, the leader of pro-life group Priests for Life, delivered another letter to his donors Saturday.

This time, Pavone unleashes an attack on President Barack Obama.

"The Obama administration is out to force you to take a direct and active role in the murder of your unborn brothers and sisters," Pavone says in the opening salvo.

"President Obama's arrogance and his disdain for those who 'cling to God' is such that, like the schoolyard bully, he thinks he can run roughshod over anyone who stands in his way or dares to defy him," Pavone writes.

"Well, he picked a fight with the wrong people when he attacked Priests for Life," he continues. "We have no intention of knuckling under. Instead, we filed a lawsuit to protect you, your conscience rights, and your freedom to practice your religion as you deem fit."

Legendary sportswriter Frank Deford does us a big favor by writing about a superb moment in college basketball history.

While many of us have come back to earth now that NBA phenom Jeremy Lin showed Thursday what it's like playing against the Miami Heat -- not fun -- another story unfolded in a lowly NCAA Division III basketball program at Gettysburg College. If you want to be inspired, take two minutes for this story.