In Denmark, if tests show a high risk of Down Syndrome, Turners syndrom, or other problems with the fetus, abortion is allowed even after the 12th week of pregnancy. This has recently started a discussion about the ethics behind these tests, and the choice to abort a baby because of such risks.
This made me think about Chromes in AH. Maybe we're not that far away from designing perfect babies. The desire seems to be there at least.
As a TS woman, I am saddened to hear of this policy.
shareIs it such a bad thing to abort a baby if it has a terrible disease? I'm not talking about Downs or Turners, but what about Tay-Sachs? Or Huntingtons? What if the baby is so hideously deformed that the chances of it being born alive are very small? I don't need self-righteous people jumping down my throat. I'm just trying to point out there are two sides. Some people cannot handle the idea of having a child who is so damaged that they will spend the rest of their lives trying to provide basic care, changing diapers long after the child becomes an adult and trying to keep feeding tubes clean and bed sores at bay. And knowing that after they die, their child will go to an institution where hopefully it will have at least the care needed not to die of neglect. People are too judgemental-as someone who has worked with medically fragile children, I can tell you that the standard of care they need is extensive. And that the less contact people have with such children, the more obnoxious they get about how they should be cared for. I'm not in favor of eugenics-that was always a stupid idea, but isn't it better to leave the decision up to the parents who have to look at their emotional, mental, and financial resources and decide what they can cope with?
http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/
What I worry about is how society's view on kids born with these disorders changes when these tests are an option. Danish parents of DS kids are for example beginning to leave Denmark to live in Norway, because they feel they're not being treated fairly by medical staffs. It's as if the medical staff blame the parents for not opting for abortion.
I think with the speed at which technology is developing, it's hard to make so many decisions about what is ethical and what is not, but it's important to at least once in a while take a pause, look at what technology is doing to the society and fix what needs fixing before it gets too late. Maybe we think we're giving people a choice, but we end up pushing for more discrimination.
What I worry about is how society's view on kids born with these disorders changes when these tests are an option....I think with the speed at which technology is developing, it's hard to make so many decisions about what is ethical and what is not, but it's important to at least once in a while take a pause, look at what technology is doing to the society and fix what needs fixing before it gets too late. Maybe we think we're giving people a choice, but we end up pushing for more discrimination.It is a difficult call, Tomatish, because society does wind up paying for these kids. Best case scenarios are when there are services provided that help the children to grow up to become functioning members of society. There are plenty of worst case scenarios, however, like the growing number of victims of violent autistics. Statistics vary from 8% to more than 30% of autistics who are troubled with uncontrollable fits of violent rage. As a special ed teacher, I've been on the receiving end of those fits more times than I care to count. And I've been very lucky-so far I've only been beaten and knocked down. I haven't suffered any permanent injuries. People have been killed by autistics lashing out-a very high cost to society, for the person killed, their loved ones, the autistic person, and THEIR loved ones. What happens to an autistic person who is uncontrollably violent? They get institutionalized and that is a very high cost to society. At the current state of technology there is absolutely nothing we can do about it, but if there was a way to eliminate autism in the womb, so that no person need ever struggled with this mysterious ailment again, wouldn't that be a good thing? I realize there is a slippery slope here, but there is always going to be something that demands an ethical decision and a balancing of society and the individual.
I must admit, although I find your reply thought provoking, I find your opinions somewhat disturbing, and I would not feel comfortable having my kids under your care. I don't mean to offend you at all. For all I know you could be the nicest and gentlest teacher. However, to state that the kids don't need to know more about their autistic classmate other than his being a threat to their safety implies that you view the autistic as nothing more than that. The kids need to understand, to know the reasons behind those violent fits. Not only for the autistic kid's sake, but for their own as well. Rather than living in fear of what they don't understand, they should learn to deal with their fears. They should also understand that even though their classmate may impose a threat on them, it is not out of hatred, anger or meanness. It is something that he cannot control and he is as much a victim as they are. It may not decrease the danger they're under, but I believe some empathy would make their lives better and make them better people.
shareDenmark has nothing on the Netherlands. They have legalized Euthanasia for children up to age 12. Which eerily shadows the German WWII era program, dubbed Action T4.
...My mind has an endless capacity for useless information.