Friday, October 06, 2006
Speaking of abortion...
Ok, I'm going a bit interactive here. This is probably a loaded question, but I'm assuming that most (certainly not all ;)) of my readers are disabled. What are your thoughts on pre-screening fetuses for disabilities? Do you think this is okay in any circumstance? What about aborting a fetus due to a known or suspected disability? Black and white? Grey? Thoughts...?
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7 comments:
For me it goes into two parts.
I'm not in the Duty to Give Birth camp. So, I believe in and fight for a woman to do with her body what she chooses, even if her definition of life beginning differs from my own.
I have a very brain foccussed view on when life begins--at the 25th or 26th week when *sentience*, the cerebral cortex booting up has completed.
I would feel uncomfortable with an abortion after the 26th week but would support legislation allowing it because we don't *know* the individual reasons behind it.
I approve of abortion before the 26th week, because the cerebral cortex has not yet started in to *being*
I would only give my opinions on these matters to a pregnant woman *if asked* my ideas cannot impose on another's in this matter. It's too important.
In the case of fetal testing for defect I oppose abortion after the 26th week in that case, because I do see it as a way to medically buy in to the wrongheaded idea that everyone must be perfect, but again I would only give that opinion to a pregnant person if they asked.
There was a friend of a friend who had access to good health care, was medically able to use condoms and the pill etc etc etc but chose not to, but didn't want any children so she aborted 4 pregnancies in four years. I found that to be stupid and it made me sad.
So I can't carve myself a neat little niche on that issue.
What would some parents consider a disability--brown eyes?
I blogged about this a bit myself today.
It is not so much that I think people should be denied choice, but I think that as a society we need to consider the sort of concepts upon which these decisions are made. As it is, I believe we have moved into a position without examining it.
Of course, it may be quite different in the UK, where abortion is not such a contentious issue.
People wanting to abort disabled fetuses is a symptom of everything that's wrong with our society's view on the disability in general.
Abortion ends a life.
Why are disability rights people getting offended if it happens to be a disabled life. You all wanted abortion, on demand for any reason, you got it. Now, sit back and experience the genocide of your community.
Abortion is bigger than a disabled fetus. I do not object to abortion at all. I do not think a fetus is more important than the mother carrying it, and sometimes giving birth to a child could be harmful to a mother physically or psychologically, depending on the situation. Why is it so important to pro-lifers to save a fetus at whatever cost, and completely ignore the mother? In my books, that is no better. Is a fetus's right to life worth more than a mother who is already living? What about a particularly risky birth that goes wrong and could put the mother at risk? What if it's a "baby or mother" situation? Do we force her to have the baby at that point, at the mother's own death?
And what bothers me to is the attacks by pro-lifers. I am putting out my opinion, and it gets attacked (as I fully expected it would...). Can we not have a rational debate where each others' view is respected? Must there be venom involved?
My daughter was a perfect "fetus". Her brain was injured during delivery. If people only want "perfect" babies, what happens in cases like ours? Brings to mind the Princeton professor (whom i shall call "Hitler") who thinks parents should have the right to (in his words) "euthanize" children born w/ birth defects/brain injuries and the like. Google "unspeakable conversations" to read an article written by a disabled woman who interviewed him. Incredible! He's still out there, teaching at university, making the rounds as a public speaker (getting paid for it!) Come on, people! It's 2007! Don't we know we need diversity yet? Which amazing people would he rid us of, just because they were imperfect babies? Too bad adult, immoral idiots can't be put out of our misery. He'd top my list!
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