Genetic Tests & Abortion; Disability & Defect
May 13, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
According to a 2006 poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center, “70 percent of Americans said they believe that women should be able to obtain a legal abortion if there is a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby.” This figure is cited in an essay in today’s New York Times entitled Genetic Testing + Abortion = ??? by Amy Harmon, who wrote the May 9th article on prenatal testing and Down syndrome. Harmon’s essay hones in on the dilemmas faced by abortion-rights supporters in the face of developments in prenatal genetic tests that have make it increasingly possible to detect “a serious defect in the baby.” Writes Harmon:
….while [many] support a woman’s right to have an abortion if she does not want to have a baby, they are less comfortable when abortion is used by women who don’t want to have a particular baby.
“How much choice do you really want to give?” asked Arthur Caplan, chairman of the department of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “That’s the challenge of prenatal testing to pro-choicers.”
What is a “serious defect” in a baby—–some consider Down syndrome to be such, against the strong objections of families with a relative with Down syndrome. Do we have too much to “choose” from now in regard to having children—-a test now exists to predict a child’s gender? And is it possible that, even more than “choosing children,” we are simply making choices for ourselves—based on what our lives, our financial situation, can (we think) handle?
Rayna Rapp, an anthropologist at New York University, describes the issue that is at the heart of the matter to me: While a lot of ink is being spilled over whether or not to allow for such prenatal genetic testing, how about pouring out even more ink (of the ballpoint and of the digital sort) about making “sure the world is a more welcoming place for people with disabilities” and also advocating for “the need to educate prospective parents about the positive aspects of raising disabled children”? What would happen if we worried most of all about those people who are here today, and in particular those who are “disabled,” even more than we worry about those yet unborn with “a serious defect”?
What would happen if we referred to an autistic adult, an autistic child, as having “a serious defect”………
Someone brought up the point of the topic of eugenics and abortion to be a very slippery slope. This is true. If abortion on the account of a “serious defect” is allowed, how will physicians know where to stop? It is rather unnerving that it could come to whether it is okay to have an abortion for a high-functioning autistic child or a kid with Asperger’s, which really aren’t that severe compared to other conditions.
One of my greatest disappointments with scientists as a group is the failure to insist on ethical discussions before incorporating new technologies into medical practice.
Rather than having open and honest debate about stem cells, eugenics, and gene manipulation, we (all of us in society) have allowed these things to move forward without any consideration of whether they should be allowed to move forward. Many in science abdicate any responsibility, rationalizing that if they don’t do it, someone else will. While this may be true, if we had open conversations of all the ethical principles and the consequences of different technologies, such technologies might be relegated to the fringe rather than being immediately being incorporated into the mainstream.
Our only hope at this point is to educate after the fact, which is a much tougher road to hoe.
These types of things make me feel physically sick. It is so sad to think that people can be deemed ‘unwanted’ or ‘broken’ or ‘defect’ even before they are born, before they can grow, before they can become individuals who prove otherwise.
Yet, where there is an opportunity to play god, there will always be those who choose that path. There will always be those who think they know better.
I find it comforting to know that my autistic son has touched so many people so deeply, changing their perspective and understanding…one person at a time.
What would happen if we referred to an autistic adult, an autistic child, as having “a serious defect”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I find them and put my foot where the sun doesnt shine
What would happen if we referred to an autistic adult, an autistic child, as having “a serious defect”
This is already happening. The March of Dimes includes autism in its list of birth defects and is funding the “autism prevention” research at Baylor.
Also isnt that implied by Autism Speaks as well
Thanks for that reference Bonnie—-even “implying” this raises concerns.