Dawn finds a tale of prenatal diagnosis and tragedy
I am so saddened that parents are being counselled that their only humane choice in these matters is to abort (prematurely end) their pregnancies.
I am saddened that our standards of personhood are approaching those of Gattica.
I grew up reading science fiction dystopias like John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, with mandatory genetic testing and abortion/sterilization of 'undesirables'. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime.
Only perfection allowed
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About this Entry
This page contains a single entry by alicia published on March 7, 2005 5:55 PM.
If you have High School aged children, read this was the previous entry in this blog.
Kevin Miller is the next entry in this blog.
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Why do doctors only counsel abortion when they detect fetal abnormalities? If they truly feel compassion and want the parents to be spared as much pain as possible, then why not lay out all the facts neutrally and give the parents guidance only after they have informed them properly? In other words, "You can carry to term with no ill effects on your health and bond with your baby, and we will support you through your pregnancy and your loss. Or you can terminate the pregnancy now. I would recommend termination, but regardless of your choice, I will provide you good medical care."
Herding the parents to only one choice ("your baby has ****** syndrome, so you have to terminate") is unconscionable and does not in the long run spare anyone any pain, since it robs parents of any control they might have over the situation. Even if you're pro-choice, isn't that pro-INFORMED-choice? Isn't that pro-the-woman's-choice, not pro-the-doctor-chooses-for-the-stupid-parents-who-might-otherwise-continue-the-pregnancy?
So seriously, what's in it for the doctor if the parents terminate after a bad diagnosis? The "doctor" I saw after Emily's diagnosis clearly hated Emily for having anencephaly, and we both know another woman whose baby had exencephaly and the high-risk doctor really hard-sold termination at her. Why would they push so hard? It's not their body. Would they push so hard if one wanted to choose the Pill over an IUD?
What do they have to gain?
Just speculation but maybe if these doctors have "terminated" babies for the precise reason that they have these conditions, it's hard to face parents whose choice to carry to term may be experienced as a condemnation of the alternative?