pre-natal screening and Downs syndrome

[maranta]

Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus - NY Times
...Until this year, only pregnant women 35 and older were routinely tested to see if their fetuses had the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians

Comments

[orominuialwen]

I'm glad to hear the people are resisting against this awful turn towards eugenics! My best friend has Down's Syndrome, and it makes me so mad when people don't think her life is worth living because she's a "retard," rather than seeing what a sweet, loving, and talented person she is.

[ladycygnet]

It saddens me that so many people are choosing to abort Down Syndrome babies. I'm afraid that a resurge in the popularity of eugenics is on the way now...

[nerdyglam]

About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.

90 percent? That's insane.

I just finished reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter that touches on this issue. The father tells his wife that their daughter died at birth but really she had Down Syndrome and he sends her away with the nurse.