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I read somewhere that Down syndrome kids are being born at a much lower rate now days because of medical science advances Doctors are able to tell if the baby is down syndrome or not they will abort. Do you think this practice should be legal.
Yes, the decision is based on a medical test. What if someone wants a certain sex and they abort kids based on being the wrong sex? Should medical science be used like this?
Last edited by Oldhag1; 03-31-2015 at 07:22 AM..
Reason: Changed title to better reflect topic. Merged and removal of one word for clarity/meshing
I read somewhere that Down syndrome kids are being born at a much lower rate now days because of medical science advances Doctors are able to tell if the baby is down syndrome or not they will abort. Do you think this practice should be legal.
I am personally opposed to abortion except in a few cases, but I am nevertheless pro-choice. This means that I don't think anyone should have the right to decide what another woman should do.
That being said, I don't think I personally would abort a fetus with Down syndrome as long as I felt that I would be able to adequately care for him or her until at least s/he reached adulthood. This is because there are many people with Down syndrome who lead happy and contented lives for many years. There is a young woman who works at our local supermarket, and she is very efficient at her job as a bagger and cart handler and seems very happy being so; she is a very cheerful and friendly person and I always look forward to being greeted by her. That being said, though, I know there are many "degrees" of Down syndrome, with some people with DS being capable of having a "normal" life for the most part, and others who are barely functional.
The dividing line for me is quality of life. If I knew that there was at least a 50% chance that I was carrying a child who would be in pain for all of his/her life with virtually no hope of a cure or a fetus that would be born with so little brain that s/he would be in a pervasive vegetative state, then I would have an abortion with no hesitation whatsoever. However, that would be MY choice; I would not presume to make that decision for anyone else.
P.S. In reading the moderator's note below, as I am not sure whether or not this applied to my statement (this one and the one after), I will say that YES, I do believe that medical testing should be used to determine if a child has a serious defect or inherited disease, if it can be detected in this way (or at least determined to a 50% of better chance). My reasoning, to go along with what I posted above, is so that parents can make an informed choice as to whether they will be willing and able to care for a child with such a defect or disease.
Last edited by katharsis; 03-31-2015 at 08:02 AM..
Please make sure to stay on topic. This is not a debate about the value of a person with a particular trait or about abortion in general. It is about the use of prenatal testing to determine whether or not to have an abortion.
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What if someone wants a certain sex and they abort kids based on being the wrong sex? Should medical science be used like this?
As I said, I am pro-choice, but I think aborting a fetus only because it is the "wrong" gender is wrong and selfish (unless it was a male and the mother was a carrier of a sex-linked disease like some forms of myuscular dystrophy in which only males are affected). I also think that anyone who would abort just because the gender of the fetus was "wrong" is not fit to be a parent because I think such people are usually ego-driven in that they are seeking an "ideal" child. Sometimes horrible things happen even after a healthy and "perfect" child is born -- what if the child is hit by a car when s/he is a toddler and is blinded and loses a limb? Will the parent(s) then reject the child because s/he is now "defective"?
To my way of thinking, wanting to spare a child a lifetime of pain or not wanting to live a lifetime of misery because of being forced to care for and/or support someone with NO quality of life whatsoever is very understandable but rejecting a child just because s/he is not "perfect" (in the parent's eyes, anyway) is something else.
But, to repeat, I would not presume to inflict my beliefs on anyone else (although, of course, I would step in if I saw a child being beaten, for example)
P.S. To repeat, in reading the moderator's note above, as I am not sure whether or not this applied to me, so I will add that NO, I would not approve of testing a fetus only for the reason of determining whether a child is a certain sex, unless (as I said above) it was a matter of the child possibly inheriting a sex-linked disease.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 03-31-2015 at 02:11 PM..
Reason: I was the one who decided to merge the posts.
Yes, I believe prenatal testing is of great value, and I have aborted a pregnancy as a result of abnormal findings at a twenty-week ultrasound. By the time follow-up testing confirmed the diagnosis, I was twenty-two weeks into my pregnancy. I wish that I had agreed to an earlier test that would have given me a heads up more than a month prior, because abortion at that late stage was physically and emotionally traumatizing. I believed and still believe that prenatal testing and the resulting abortion were the right course of action. Furthermore, the experience motivated my husband and me to pursue additional genetic testing to determine the risk of subsequent pregnancies being affected by the same severe defect, so we could make an informed decision about trying again.
Last edited by randomparent; 03-31-2015 at 10:20 AM..
You listed Down syndrome, but there is an entire spectrum of genetic diseases out there. Many are mild and can be treated with medication and/or surgery. Others can make Down syndrome look like a walk in the park.
A family may have many obligations where the birth of a child with a rare genetic disorder could result in a child that can bankrupt a family, prevent the opportunity of their other children, force major changes in lifestyle. The one that I had never thought of are the birth defects that cause the child severe constant pain that can not be alleviated but only attempted to be controlled though opiate based medication. I know this now because it runs in my family.
As far as people aborting children because of wrong sex... it is already happening, primarily in China and other Asian cultures where men are looked upon as superior to females. You can read about the current generation of men in China where there will be many men unable to find wives simply due to the 1 child policy and parents wanting a male child.
As long as no one is forced to give up there child, I support a family's and a woman's right to choose. I may choose differently, but no one has had the exact same education, upbringing, and is the same position in life as I am so I choose not to judge.
I had prenatal testing (what there was in the 80's) and absolute would have aborted if there was any serious issues so obviously I think the practice should be legal. As for "what else" well...I'm not involved in those discussions or decisions and don't really want to be. It's not my job to ferret out people doing things I disagree with and then getting upset over it. Once you accept abortion is ok for "x" reason, whatever you personally think is acceptable, you pretty much need to go do something else with your time and stop obsessing over stuff that doesn't concern you personally. There is no upside anywhere for having babies with severe problems so unless the parents just really feel it's what they need to do I can't see anyone arguing about it.
Children with *severe* genetic disorders are a drain on everyone from the parents who raise him to the taxpayers who pay for his special education and lifetime of federal aid.
The mother, and by extension parents, should be able to test and abort for any reason that may make their love less than 100%.
I suspect that the aborting females over males issue may resolve itself as better genetic testing is available. We know that males are more likely to have Downs, autism, hemophilia, etc.
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