Is it just me or is the tone of this piece basically a “how-to” on how to test–and then “choose”–about the life of your baby with Downs Syndrome?
I remain shocked (and I hope to always be by pieces like this).
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Brigitte objects: There are a few things in that article (beyond the obvious) that bug me a great deal. Talking about women who are “at risk” or “at high risk” of having a child with Down’s syndrome takes for granted that having a child born with the condition is an unmitigated bad thing. And it is not. True, having a Down’s syndrome child is different, and perhaps more challenging, than having a “normal” child (although I’ve met plenty of “normal” children who were very challenging and generally quite the handful). But it’s not a disaster. Also, parents are not “choosing to terminate a Down’s pregnancy”. They are “choosing” to terminate an unborn baby they believe has Down’s syndrome. (How come those articles don’t mention the false positives, huh?) I don’t care how much disdain you may have for the condition and for people who are born with it; but these are human beings just like you so don’t talk about them as though they were undesirable things.
And another thing. “National guidelines say that all women should be routinely offered screening for Down’s by the NHS. Screening is voluntary, and some women choose not to have it.” They’re trying to make the women who would prefer not to test every single aspect of their unborn babies appear to be the bizarre weirdos, and that really bothers me. There is nothing wrong with not taking every test authorities recommend. Life isn’t testable. It is, or it isn’t. And to repeat myself, testing for conditions that can only be “fixed” by killing the person carrying them is not medicine.
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Elizabeth says
Strange to read this, as I just turned down the test today. Granted, I am 28 so it wasn’t pushed very hard on me, but I am curious to see how much more they encourage the testing during my next pregnancies (which will be at age 30 and beyond obviously).
I find it incredibly sad that one is considered a “right-wing, anti-feminist bigot” for calling this what it is: eugenics. What other term is there for it and where will it end?
Articles like this don’t even pretend that it is a problem or remotely consider what a person with down syndrome must think when they read it. People with down syndrome are people with developmental delays, but they have comprehension, compassion and aren’t just stupid. They hold jobs, create art, bring joy and take great pride in the things they do in their lives. How can our society so easily say calling a person with down syndrome a “retard” is absolutely repugnant, but killing them isn’t even worth questioning? (See that disgusting Levi Johnstone accusing Palin yesterday on CBS).
I keep telling my gay (pro-choice) brother that he will turn pro-life pretty quickly when someone comes out with some type of gay gene prenatal test (whether remotely accurate or not).
Squander Two says
I wrote about this attitude a while ago. Here’s what the blogger Brainduck said faced with her pro-screening peers: