As a follow up to the recent panel discussion in Bioethics 352, here is a timely article that pertains to the discussion. The article raises some important points.
Down Syndrome & the pressure to abort
From Elizabeth Schiltz, law professor at the University of St. Thomas:
Prenatal testing has made the population of children with Down syndrome more vulnerable to abortion, because it’s so easy to identify them. But the real problem isn’t the testing.
The real problem is using the results of these tests as part of a crude “cost-benefit” analysis — of balancing the “benefit” of giving birth to a child with Down syndrome against the “cost” to the mother and the broader society….
The issue raised here involves the "commodity" of people. There are are least two areas that need to be addressed. First there is the difference between "pro birth" and "pro life". The former is merely opposed to abortion, while the latter is supportive of, well, the entirety of life. Economic pressures, unfortunately, do play a part in decisions of these kinds. Certainly the situation in Canada may be better than the US in terms of affordable medical and other care, but at the same time there are (real or imagined) economic burdens associated with this.
Secondly, the general language around persons with disability sometimes strays into talking about "productive members of society". I want to challenge the assumption that value as a human being, let alone a member of society, is tied to productivity.
I've looked at a few other thoughts on this matter over here (against determinism) and over here - where I believe the root spiritual issue is addressed - the choice between love and fear.
Comments