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Virtually all these claims that “my doctor said I should consider aborting because the baby had Downs, but I didn’t, and the baby turned out to be perfectly normal” are false, because they skip over the huge detail that no doctor ever actually suggested proceeding with an abortion, but rather suggested amniocentesis and noted that IF amniocentesis confirmed Downs, THEN the woman might want to consider an abortion. Of course, some of the claims date back a few decades, to when there was no way of definitively confirming Downs, and even gauging probability was much less accurate. No doubt there were cases back then where a doctor suspected Downs and recommended abortion (perhaps after consideration of some other factors as well), and the baby turned out not to have Downs at all.

How in any possible way, shape or form can you possible claim to know for a fact these claims are false? Have you personally interviewed and researched each and every one of these claims? Do you honestly believe there aren't jerk OB/GYNS who would rather take the expedient way out than deal with a potential lawsuit after the birth of a Down Syndrome child? Not to mention the potential lawsuit associated with the risk of CVS? You do know there are risks to the unborn with amnio, don't you?

Expedient??? If a doctor advises a patient to abort on the basis of a suspicion of Downs that has not been genetically confirmed, and the fetus then turns out not to have had Downs (which is VERY easily confirmed post-abortion), that doctor will be sued, the doctor’s insurer won’t even bother going to court and will settle out of court for a huge sum, and the doctor will never be able to get malpractice insurance again, and will thus never be able to practice medicine in the US again.

Even if an obstetrician’s main goal in life is to terminate as many Downs fetuses as possible (an implausible assumption, but to hear some of the rantings on FR, obviously some people really believe there are doctors like this), he’ll have a lot more opportunity to do this with a medical license, doing post-amniocentesis abortions, than after he’s lost his license (at least for a time) and lost his insurability and thus ability to practice medicine legally (and that would be permanent).