Posted on 12/05/2005 5:17:40 PM PST by TheBattman
Would you abort a Down syndrome fetus if the birth defect were detected within the first trimester?
http://info.detnews.com/feedback/lettersindex.cfm?topic=Down_syndrome&forum=dnletters
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051205/LIFESTYLE03/512050302
Earlier Down syndrome test raises ethics debate
Some say knowing in first trimester helps parents prepare; others fear abortions will jump.
WARREN-- After hearing the news, Christine Spencer sank into her sofa and sobbed.
"I thought my world had ended," she said, recounting the moment she found out that her baby, still five months from birth, had Down syndrome. "I wasn't sure we were the right parents. I called some adoption agencies, and then I found out the list of people wanting to adopt children with Down syndrome was very long. People really wanted these kids. Then I wondered what was wrong with me."......
"There's no sense in having the test if they're not thinking of terminating the pregnancy," said Dr. Christine Comstock, director of fetal imaging at Beaumont Hospital and the principal site investigator on the study. "But it also provides women with early accurate information they need if they do decide to keep the baby."
About 90 percent of women who receive a positive test for Down syndrome get an abortion, said Dr. Ray Bahado-Singh of Wayne State University's Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine.
What happens if a "gay gene" is discovered? And can be tested for in the first trimester? This will put the left in an interesting position.
Interesting concept. Take a test and if your baby is not perfect then you kill it.
I thought we fought against the Nazis and their concept of Eugenics?
The only legitimate reason for testing prenatally is so that the physician can be ready for potential problems with the delivery, as well as the fact that they are now doing fetal surgery, and may identify a problem that can be fixed surgically prior to the child being born.
"Interesting concept. Take a test and if your baby is not perfect then you kill it."
What if, in the case of something like downs, YOU are the one imperfect? I admit, I'm vaguely pro-choice, but what if you knew that YOU were the one who was imperfect? What if it was YOU that you doubted, not the child?
I say I am "vaguely" pro-abortion, I will be honest about it, I am Vaguely Pro-abortion because there is no late term epihpane that tells you you can't raise a child. If you end a pregnancy as soon as you know you are pregnant, then I'm not uncomfortable seeing that as a biological matter. It is when you start to change your mind about conception after a few months, that I find abortion disgustin. Pregnancy, and childbirth isn't a fashion trend, it is a LIFE choice.
Sorry to muddy this with a Vaguely Pro-abortion concervative.
Rush has been on that one for years. It would certainly be interesting.
My sister-in-law confronted that decision when she was pregnant and a bit older. She declined the test to avoid being forced to consider abortion. She relented and had the test when convinced of the advantage of being prepared, what with having two teen agers. The baby was wonderfully normal.
Another friend, faced with the same issue, knew her baby had Down's and spent the last 5 months of her pregnancy on bedrest to carry him to term. I am surrounded by brave, morally strong women.
He was taken aback by my stark comment and assumed I was speaking from a religious point of view.
I was not and I was amazed at his assumption that one had to be religious to be against murdering one's baby in the womb.
Lucky you to know such wonderful women!
Star Trek: TNG did an episode about this called "The Masterpiece Society." Odd that just ten years ago it was science-fiction.
We won...didn't we?
For MYSELF! I would never make such a decision, If I procreate I is because I meant to. However, as I said, I am VAGUE, because there are some people with fewer disabilities, but infinately more retarded then their POSSIBLY mentaly disabled offspring.
I think that particular condition is built on an inability to accept responsibility, while the child is, in fact OFTEN more responsible than those around them. I never said it was right, I said I could understand it.
I have a niece (in her late 20s) who was told by all the doctors at two hospitals who said the same thing - her baby had downs syndrome, and also had fluid on the brain. They refused to get an abortion as an alternative, and they were counseled on the problems associated with their future disabled child.
Her and her husband and grandparents to be went through hell. They cried every night, and were terrified of the impending birth. Lo and behold, the baby was born and the baby was just perfect. The hospital did numerous tests on the baby and there was no fluid on the brain and no signs of downs syndrome.
I know they can't sue the hospital, but they went through such agony and suffering, and what if they had actually gone through with the abortion??? What was it in the ultrasound that makes doctors think a baby is a downs baby and has fluid on the brain???
Thank god they didn't listen to them.
Doctors are herd animals.
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