Prenatal screening has led to one of the greatest eugenic successes in history: the virtual elimination of Down syndrome in many developed countries. Per Wikipedia, about 92% of pregnancies in Europe with a diagnosis of Down syndrome are terminated. In the United States, termination rates are around 67%, but this varies significantly depending upon the population evaluated. When nonpregnant people are asked if they would have a termination if their fetus tested positive, 23–33% said yes, when high-risk pregnant women were asked, 46–86% said yes, and when women who screened positive are asked, 89–97% say yes. The terrible strains of raising a Down syndrome child are downplayed by antichoice ideologues; heres a stark account of the horror and futility of the disease, which is highly burdensome on family, as well as painful for Down sufferers themselves, who have elevated incidence of a plethora of ailments including heart defects, vision problems, hearing loss, infections, hypothyroidism, blood disorders, hypotonia, spinal defects, sleep disorders, dental disease, epilepsy, digestive problems, celiac disease, and poor mental health and emotional development, and for whom life expectancy is decades lower, with 90% dying before 70 and 80% in the US and 99% in Europe unemployed.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 20:19:22 +0000
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