[Faith-talk] FW: Disability Selected Abortions

[Bev]

I am wondering if current testing can even identify if a fetus were blind. I 
honestly hope not, because I'm sure if most people learned they were having 
a blind child they would abort it in a heartbeat given people's ignorance 
and fear of blind people in general.

Bev
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Philip Blackmer" <pblackmer27 at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>; 
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>; <humanser-request at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 7:24 PM
Subject: [Faith-talk] FW: Disability Selected Abortions


> Sorry I forgot to write my message before sending the last message.  While
> this doesn't mention blindness it does talk about disabilities in general
> and I wanted to know more about the situation especially where blindness 
> is
> involved.  I also wanted to know if the NFB has any interest in addressing
> this issue.  I am not yet trying to push for any changes or for the NFB to
> take action.  Rather I want to know more about the complex realities of 
> this
> issue.  Thanks - Philip
>
>
>
> P.S. the original message follows:
>
>
>
> Parents of unborn babies with disabilities often experience great pressure
> to abort
>
> Sarah Terzo
>
>
>
> Wed Apr 10 10:37 EST
>
> OpinionApril 10, 2013 (LiveActionNews.org) - Now that prenatal testing can
> so easily detect babies with physical and mental disabilities, more and 
> more
> women are choosing to abort their children if something is wrong with 
> them.
> For example, up to 92% of women whose tests show that they are carrying
> babies with Down syndrome abort.
>
> Some women have successfully sued doctors for the "wrongful life" of 
> babies
> who were born handicapped, claiming that their doctors should have 
> detected
> the anomaly so they could abort. Perhaps this is one reason why many 
> doctors
> urge their pregnant patients to undergo amniocentesis, a test which is not
> without the risk of miscarriage. Along with the pressure to undergo
> amniocentesis comes the pressure to abort if the amniocentesis - or other
> recommended prenatal testing - shows a problem.
>
> Parents are Subjected to Eugenicist Views and Urged to Choose Abortion
>
> According to one pro-choice author:
>
> Through the gradual introduction of new forms of technology and testing, 
> the
> medical establishment and the public health sector have been developing
> subtle quality-of-life standards and not-so-subtle ways of discouraging 
> the
> birth of those who do not measure up. (1)
>
> Another researcher writes:
>
> The mere existence of a [genetic] technology contains an implicit coercion
> to use it[.] . Sometimes the coercion is more than implicit. (2)
>
> Some doctors oppose even allowing women to give birth to their handicapped
> children. Bob Edwards, the scientist who presided over Great Britain's 
> first
> in vitro fertilization delivery, gave a speech at a fertility convention
> where he said:
>
> Soon it will be a sin if parents to have a child that carries the heavy
> burden of genetic disease. We are entering a world where we have to 
> consider
> the quality of our children. (3)
>
> While it is impossible to know how many OBGYNs share this eugenicist and
> elitist view, a number of women have experienced pressure from doctors to
> abort their handicapped children.
>
> One women who found out she was pregnant with a baby with Down syndrome
> recounted her obstetrician saying, "It could just be hanging off you,
> drooling," while encouraging her to abort. (4)
>
> Another writer recounted the following:
>
> A woman I know was told by her obstetrician that her fetus had Down
> syndrome. The doctor ordered her to abort, she refused. . Another woman 
> was
> similarly coerced. Her doctor told her that her baby would be more like a
> fish than a human and would only be as smart as a baboon. (5)
>
> The article this quote appears in talks about a study that found that 99% 
> of
> individuals with Down syndrome report being happy with their lives.
>
> Parents often experience great pressure without being told of the great 
> gift
> they've been given.
>
> Parents Are Pressured to Make Fast Decisions While Their Children Become
> Victims of Prejudice and Discrimination
>
> Women who are pregnant with disabled babies are often pressured to make a
> decision quickly. This may be partly because some abortion providers 
> believe
> that abortion becomes more dangerous the later in pregnancy it is 
> performed.
> One abortionist claims that the risk of abortion complications increases 
> 20%
> for each week of pregnancy that passes (6).
>
> Abortions for reasons of fetal anomaly are usually late-term abortions
> because amniocentesis can be performed only in the second trimester, and
> most disabilities are not discerned until midway through pregnancy. This 
> is
> why many women who are carrying disabled babies have abortions in the late
> second or third trimester. (This may change with the advent of blood 
> testing
> that can detect some abnormalities.)
>
> One study found that parents of babies aborted due to disability or "fetal
> anomaly" suffer depression and loss. Those who conducted the study said:
>
> Despite the shock and grief they may experience upon hearing the news of a
> fetal anomaly, the pregnant woman and her partner are usually urged to 
> make
> the decision to terminate quickly. Behind the urgency is the physician's
> desire to avoid complications of 'late' terminations of pregnancy. Because
> of the delays involved in amniocentesis, abortions may occur in the second
> and even third trimester pregnancy. In health care settings, the issue of
> such late abortions has raised ethical and legal questions. In one early
> study, most of the terminations occurred within 72 hours of the woman
> receiving the news of the abnormality. This hardly allows time for the
> couple to become informed about parenting children born with that anomaly
> and thus considering carrying through with the pregnancy. (7)
>
> Rayna Rapp, who aborted a baby who was found to be handicapped, conducted
> interviews with women who aborted due to their children's disabilities. 
> She
> said of her research:
>
> New developments in reproductive technologies assist in the quest for the
> perfect baby not only by genetically creating 'better' children but also 
> by
> detecting and eliminating fetuses deemed abnormal and defective. In a 
> world
> where babies are bred for desired characteristics, having a healthy, 
> normal
> baby becomes nothing less than a duty. While it may appear that medicine
> simply offers procedure such as diagnostic ultrasound, fetal
> electrocardiography, and amniocentesis as options for those who desire 
> them,
> the fear of producing a child that falls outside the boundary of 'normal'
> compels many women to seek premonitory information regarding the status of
> the fetus. As one of [Rayna Rapp's] interviewees explained regarding her
> tests, 'if he was gonna be slow, if he wasn't gonna have a shot at being
> President, that's not the baby we wanted.' (8)
>
> Rapp reveals that simple prejudice against the disabled is a factor in
> driving couples to abort their babies.
>
> Parents Suffer from a Lack of Accurate Information
>
> Along with prejudice against the disabled and pressure from doctors to
> abort, another factor driving these abortions is that couples who face a
> disabled baby are often given limited, one-sided information. Their 
> doctors
> may overemphasize the suffering that handicapped children go through or
> present the worst-case scenario. This may be because the doctor fears 
> being
> sued or because the doctor has his or her own prejudices towards disabled
> people. According to one woman who aborted her disabled baby and later
> regretted it:
>
> We had only one isolated piece of information, not a whole crystal ball. 
> How
> were we to know what would be best? .
>
> A person reeling from shock, numbed by a sudden catastrophe, cannot think.
> (9)
>
> In pressuring couples to make a decision quickly, doctors deny them the
> opportunity to come to terms with the fact that their baby will most 
> likely
> have a disability. When couples are given biased information and pressured
> to make a quick decision, they may not have the wherewithal or opportunity
> to do a great deal of research on their own. They may not have the
> opportunity, for example, to thoroughly research the disability and talk 
> to
> parents of children with disabilities. Many times, these parents would
> encourage them to carry their pregnancy to term. In reality, many women 
> who
> have their babies with disabilities are glad they did not abort.
>
> The mother of a five-year-old girl with a cleft lip and palate wrote this
> letter to the editor:
>
> I was horrified to read that many couples now opt for abortion rather than
> risk having a baby with such a minor physical imperfection. My daughter is
> not some abnormal freak[.] . She can, and does, lead a happy, fulfilled
> life[.] . What sort of society do we live in when a minor facial 
> deformity,
> correctable by surgery, is viewed as so abnormal as to merit abortion? 
> (10)
>
> A beautiful gift.
>
> When radio show host Dr. Laura broadcast a call from a woman who aborted 
> her
> baby with Down syndrome at 20 weeks, parents of handicapped children wrote
> her letters to express their disapproval. One man, the father of a baby 
> with
> Down syndrome, said the following:
>
> Today, the 28th of March, I was listening to talk to one of your callers.
> She recently had terminated the life of her child in her 20th week of
> pregnancy and I believe the child's 20th week of life.
>
> The child's life was ended when it was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. This
> really struck a nerve and infuriated me, as I and my wife have the honor 
> of
> being parents to our 22 month son, Conner, with Down Syndrome, that along
> with our other 2 children (a daughter 8 and a son 5) the joy and light of
> our life. This person that ended the child's life has no idea of the joy 
> or
> divine love that these special people possess. It is hard for me to
> understand the callousness that she had about thinking that the child was 
> a
> mistake of nature and it was okay to terminate its life. I would almost 
> dare
> say that it is our limited understanding of these special people that is 
> the
> problem.
>
> I have often looked into Conner's eyes and have felt a true divine, 
> Godlike
> love shining forth. I will be honest and say that our life has not been
> changed by Conner. Unlike our other two children that walked before they
> were one and talked by two and developed in what we understand as 
> 'normal'.
> Conner has yet to walk on his own, but he does possess the ability to
> brighten the darkest days we have faced.
>
> I would hate to think of life without Conner, he is the light in our
> families' lives. Our other children think the world of him and I feel are
> gaining a greater understanding and acceptance of 'ALL' people, unlike the
> caller today. She has missed a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow.
>
> These are the voices that parents considering aborting their children with
> handicaps need to hear. In pressuring these couples to abort quickly and
> giving them one-sided information, doctors encourage these parents to have
> abortions which they may later come to regret. The opportunity to bring a
> special and unique child into the world is taken away from these parents,
> and the ultimate gift of life is taken away from their children.
>
> Sources:
>
> 1. Elizabeth Kristol. "Picture Perfect: the Politics of Prenatal Testing"
> First Things 32 (April 1993): 22 Quoted in Paige Comstock Cunningham, Esq.
> "The Supreme Court and the creation of the two-dimensional woman" Erika
> Bachiochi. The Cost of "Choice": Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion" 
> (San
> Francisco, CA: Encounter Books, 2004)
>
> 2. Lori Andrews, Future Perfect: Confronting Decisions about Genetics (New
> York: Columbia University press, 2001), 63
>
> 3. Sunday Times (London) July 4, 1999 as reported in American Feminist,
> winter 1999 - 2000
>
> 4. Jonathan Finer "Study: Negativity Often Tied to down Syndrome 
> Diagnoses"
> Washington Post, April 29, 2005 A 3 Quoted in Ramesh Ponnauru The Party of
> Death (Washington DC: Regnery Publishing, 2006)166
>
> 5. Rebecca Taylor "99% of Adults With Down Syndrome Report Being Happy in
> Life"LifeNews.com 10/6/11
> (http://www.lifenews.com/2011/10/06/99-of-adults-with-down-syndrome-report-b
> eing-happy-in-life/)
>
> 6. Dr. Henry Morgentaler, abortionist: press conference. Statement read at 
> a
> joint press conference with the Manitoba Coalition for Reproductive Choice
> in Winnipeg, Friday, June 23, 2000
>
> 7. Donnai P, Charles N, Harris R. Attitudes of Patients after "Genetic"
> Termination of Pregnancy British Medical Journal 1981; 282: 621 - 622, 
> P622
> in Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy and Ian Gentles. Women's Health after Abortion:
> The Medical and Psychological Evidence Second Edition (Toronto, Canada: 
> The
> deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research, 2003) 159
>
> 8. Rayna Rapp "Moral Pioneers: Women, Men, and Fetuses on a Frontier Of
> Reproductive Technology," and Hoffman et al., Embryos, Ethics and Women's
> Rights, 110, from Kathy Rudy. Beyond Pro-Life and Pro-Choice: Moral
> Diversity in the Abortion Debate (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 
> 1996)
> 11
>
> 9. "Brown, Judy" (pseudonym) The Choice. Journal of the American Medical
> Association 1989, 262:2735
>
> 10. Susan Kitching, London Sunday Times, February 11, 1990
>
> Reprinted with permission from LiveActionNews.org. Sarah Terzo is a 
> pro-life
> author and creator of the clinicquotes.com website. She is a member of
> Secular Pro-Life and Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians.
>
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