Down Syndrome (prenatally diagnosed) justifies abortion?

[Ryoukai]

There is a way to diagnose Down Syndrome before birth, and many doctors recommend abortion in this case. Now I don't want to get into the pro-choice/pro-life debate too much, I just have a thought to put out there.

A lot of people do not believe they can support a mentally handicapped child or family member. So when a woman gets pregnant, then finds out from her doctor that she will have a mentally handicapped child, she considers abortion. It would be so hard to support the child, and it would be a hard life for the child himself. The doctor may even tell her she should.

One woman, pregnant with twins both diagnosed, said no. Her doctor told her abortion would be a good idea, but she wanted her baby girls no matter what the cost.

They were born perfectly healthy. They were misdiagnosed. Both of them.




How many others have been aborted because of a bad call?  

[Andromeda Zreng]

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder also known as Trisomy 21. In cases of Down Syndrome, the affected individual obtains three copies of the 21st chromosome. The only time chromosomes are present is during Prophase of either mitosis or meiosis. In this case, mitosis (producing new somatic, or body, cells). So, let's say a doctor takes a karyotype (a 'picture' of chromosomes). Doc looks at the karyotype and sees three chromosomes he recognizes as #21 chromosomes. Of course, doctors are humans, and therefore susceptible to error. Especially when autosomes (non-sex chromosomes) all look similar. If the doctor did diagnose a case of Trisomy 21, then he/she must have counted 47 chromosomes instead of 46. So those abortions because of a Down Syndrome-diagnosed embryo may not have been entirely bad calls. If that extra chromosome wasn't a number 21, then it must have been something else, because it didn't just disappear. That extra chromosome, perhaps, was an X chromosome, causing a sex-dependent condition such as Turner's or Klinefelter's, or another autosome which would perhaps cause a different genetic disorder.

Of course, there is a small chance the extra chromosome would render harmless.

And, for the record, I do NOT support abortion. I am very pro-life, and I do believe that any pregnancy should be followed through no matter what because there are many infertile couples who would be willing to raise a child with a disorder.  

[Ryoukai]

Good research, thanks for the input! I agree with you on being pro-life. I just hoped no one was "justifying" abortion through an unreliable process.  

[fairywaif]

I'm pro-choice. Going to put that out there.

I believe that the costs (In care, time, stress) are quite bad. If you want to take care of such a child, good for you. However, many people can't. The issue comes when you're denying life to a person to be because they have a genetic disorder. This also could be a gateway to abortions because of sex (already practised in China), eye color, skin tone etc.

If they actually have it, it IS the parents right to choose, but you have to remeber that you are basically being prejudiced.  

[Ryoukai]

I'm trying to be impartial; I was simply worried that a parent may be misinformed, like this one was.  

[Calypsophia]

I'd rather be safe than sorry in a case like this. under these circumstances I do think it's justified. I'm also pro-choice, but I believe the choice should be made within the first trimester. if someone cant decide within a 3 month period (which is plenty of time to figure out youre pregnant) then it's their problem. carry it to term and put it up for adoption if they still dont want it (unless of course, there's a situation like the topic of this thread).  

[Dolix Pullo]

HELL NO! a life's a life, no matter what quality it is! plus, they maight be wrong! Humans are humans, and prone to mistake. I'm completely pro-life, and an abortion should only take place if nothing can change the mother's mind. then they should do stem-cell research on the removed fetus or whatever it is.

 

[Je Suis La Vie]

I believe that it is the mothers choice.
Religiously I am against abortion, but socially I support it 100%. People should allow others to make decisions for themselves. confused  

[Mama Ame]

Aborting a child because they may have a genetic defect is wrong. For one, the doctor may or may not be right. And what happens if your child has a genetic defect and you don't find out until after they are born? Would you kill them then? My cousin has a severe mental disorder and has the mentality of a five year old child (shes twenty-two). However they weren't able to diagose her until she was about six or seven months old.

Or take Autism, which doesn't show up until a child is around two sometimes.

What I'm trying to say is, your child may become sick regardless of them being born healthy or not.  

[Viral Agent]

Though my friends will say it's no surprise, I am being perfectly serious when I say that the doctors thought I would be born with severe mental defects. My mother very nearly had an abortion because of it. They didn't realize until later that it was because of a stupid nurse and a wrong assumption (they thought my mother was of a different race, and when they compared my genes with what they were and what they should have been with the misinformation it was completely wrong)

In explaining to me why she nearly chose to terminate she explained that she spent days wondering what the world would look like through the eyes of a child with the problems I would have had. She thought of how it would be on my three year old sister, to have someone like I would have been as a sister, to love and take care of.
She thought of my father, who was a high-ranking officer in the military, who was gone for years at a time, and she thought of how she would be able to deal with two jobs, a disabled baby and a toddler at the same time.

I'm glad she went to another hospital for a different opinion, and I understand completely why she would have killed me.

I would have done the exact same thing.
I don't agree with abortion in most situations, and I am pro-choice to the mother, and it really kills me when people who abort are looked down on as disgusting people. They have reasons. Not all of them are good, but they are reasons that justified termination.  

[Dermoi]

Well, even though it is cruel in ways that they are not allowed to live because of something that they cannot help, it is the people who are already alive that we should be worrying about, they are our first prioraty.
if the mother wants an abortion, then so be it. if you don't like abortion, then don't get one, but that does not give you the right to push that belief onto anybody else.  

[SilentSong32]

First off I am against abortion. I stated reasons to back up my choice in the other topic on abortion, but I'll post it again to explain before actually addressing the main topic of this.
~
I am against abortion. I would never have one. Although, in cases like rape, insest, and danger to the mother I could understand why a woman would have it don't, but I still wouldn't.
Many would claim 'but there are so many kids that need adopting already'. There is some truth to that. However, babies easily get adopted and it doesn't take long for a baby to find a home. It is the older kids who have trouble getting adopted and those kids are ones taken out of homes because of problems with the guardians and such.
Those who say that the fetus isn't really life and that the life of a baby doesn't start until its born. Have you ever taken biology class? Or looked at the characteristics of what is needed for something to be considered life?
Well, if one has then one would see that a fetus IS life. It has all the characteristics that is needed to be considered life.
The main problem with abortion is that women are beginning to use it as a form of birth control. If she had enough 'fun' making the baby she sound deal with the 'fun' of giving birth to the child.
~

Okay, I would like to say that I don't like the idea of abortion even if down syndrome or any other disability or 'special needs' are seemingly showing up predicting the child's health in the future.
I say this because the prediction may not be true and the death of that child would be in vain.
For example, a good friend of mine's mother shared with her that the doctor who monitored her mother's pregnancy said that she would be born with down sydrome along with other 'difficulties'. He suggested abortion to her mother. Her mother refused.
My friend doesn't have down syndrome or any other disabilities or special needs. In fact, she is healthier than even me and was even in National Honor Society (in case you aren't familiar with that it is a group that is hightly recognized for good deeds, exceptionally good grades, and quite prestigious (and I say was because we graduated a week and a half ago)).  

[Jenn_antiviolahater]

I too am pro-choice


I think that though a child may have downs-syndrome that doesn't affect the fact that they can still contribute to the world. People with downs-syndrome tend to have beautiful hearts and have the uncanny ability to see the world for what it truly is. Though it may be more work for a parent to raise a child with downs-syndrome or other such unique situations, pefectly "normal" kids get into all sorts of trouble which also causes grief for the parent, just at a later age. I believe that each life has something to contribute to the world, and that we need such diversity to make our world a better place.

In closing, I'd like to relate a morale I once read about. Every person has a disability whether it is hidden or not and it is how you choose to embrace your personal disability that makes you unique.  

[neufchatel]

i believe that abortion is an act of desperation, and only the mother is fit to decide how desperate of a state she is in and whether or not she should abort. i would like it if as little lives as possible are lost this way, but i know that in many cases abortion is a better option for the mother and the would-be child. i could understand aborting a baby that would have down syndrome if the mother wouldn't be able to pay for its medical bills, also its unrealistic to think that if she put it up for adoption that someone would adopt it. However, if the mother knew that she could economically, physically, and emotionally handle the extra work that comes with down syndrome than for no reason do i think she should abort it. so long as the child would be loved and have a good plentiful life i think that abortion.

 

[xXSerial ExperimentXx]

SilentSong32

First off I am against abortion. I stated reasons to back up my choice in the other topic on abortion, but I'll post it again to explain before actually addressing the main topic of this.
~
I am against abortion. I would never have one. Although, in cases like rape, insest, and danger to the mother I could understand why a woman would have it don't, but I still wouldn't.
Many would claim 'but there are so many kids that need adopting already'. There is some truth to that. However, babies easily get adopted and it doesn't take long for a baby to find a home. It is the older kids who have trouble getting adopted and those kids are ones taken out of homes because of problems with the guardians and such.
Those who say that the fetus isn't really life and that the life of a baby doesn't start until its born. Have you ever taken biology class? Or looked at the characteristics of what is needed for something to be considered life?
Well, if one has then one would see that a fetus IS life. It has all the characteristics that is needed to be considered life.
The main problem with abortion is that women are beginning to use it as a form of birth control. If she had enough 'fun' making the baby she sound deal with the 'fun' of giving birth to the child.
~

Okay, I would like to say that I don't like the idea of abortion even if down syndrome or any other disability or 'special needs' are seemingly showing up predicting the child's health in the future.
I say this because the prediction may not be true and the death of that child would be in vain.
For example, a good friend of mine's mother shared with her that the doctor who monitored her mother's pregnancy said that she would be born with down sydrome along with other 'difficulties'. He suggested abortion to her mother. Her mother refused.
My friend doesn't have down syndrome or any other disabilities or special needs. In fact, she is healthier than even me and was even in National Honor Society (in case you aren't familiar with that it is a group that is hightly recognized for good deeds, exceptionally good grades, and quite prestigious (and I say was because we graduated a week and a half ago)).

I agree with you in many ways!
I am against abortion for the reasons you stated and more.
Back on topic,
killing a child just because they are not "perfect" is a disgusting thing to do.
Yes, I am aware that children with mental disabilities are difficult to take care of but a healthy child can be equally difficult.
What if they behave extremely bad?
What if they are lazy and mooch off their families their whole lives?
What if they develop a disorder?
See? A "normal" child can be equally as hard to handle.
I had a friend with down syndrome. Yes, he had problems in life and yes, he caused trouble, but so did we.
Everyone has problems in life,
everyone causes problems in life,
so why should only some of us deserve to live?