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RUNNIGN HEADER: “Perfect”
There is No Such Thing as “Perfect”
Taylor Smith
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Should a positive Down syndrome test on a fetus, allow for abortion of that fetus?
“70% of Americans said they believe that women should be able to obtain a legal
abortion if there is a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby, according to a 2006
poll conducted by the National Opinion Research Center.” (Harmon, 2007, pg. 2) When
people make a decision to abort a baby based on it having a disability that is implying
there is something wrong with the disabled, when they are just differently challenged not
defective.
Since the 1970’s ultrasounds during pregnancy have become a routine, screening
the fetus to insure it is developing correctly. However, ultrasounds can also determine if
a baby is Down syndrome. Down syndrome is a genetic mutation caused by an extra
21st chromosome, also known as Trisomy 21. (Willo, 2000-2012) “…The Society for
Maternal-Fetal Medicine conference in New Orleans, found that an ultrasound
procedure and a series of blood tests are effective in detecting whether a fetus has
Down syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy, although there was a high false
positive rate.” (Portner, 2004, pg. 2) There is no sure way to say a child has Down
syndrome, before it is born. The most important thing is having a healthy baby.
Roughly 90% of people that find out their child has Down syndrome end up aborting
it. (Lindeman, 2008). Those who do not want a differently challenged child may think
they are defected. I contest, everyone is unique and it is unethical to only choose the
“perfect” babies, there is no such thing as perfection, everyone needs to stop trying to
live up to this nonexistent expectation. Renate Lindeman (2008) talks about her two
Down syndrome daughters and how they are full of energy, loving, caring, happy, kindhearted, and raves on. Also saying how Down syndrome kids bring diversity into the
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world. I couldn’t agree more with Ms. Lindeman. Through my experiences with children
with Down syndrome I have started to see life in a different way. People with Down
syndrome can live a full and happy life and “according to World magazine (January 18,
1997), of the 250,000 Americans currently living with Down’s syndrome, most score in
the “mild to moderate” range of mental retardation…” (Cunningham, 2000, pg. 2) Life is
not perfect nor will it ever be but those people with Down syndrome love life and the
chance to live should not be taken away.
A study by “Down Syndrome: American Pregnancy Association” in 2008 they state
the longer you wait to get pregnant the higher risk of defects in the baby. Getting
pregnant after the age of 35 you have an increased risk of 1 in 365 chance of having a
child born with Down syndrome, and the risk increases with age. This does not mean
you stop trying to have kids because your risk is too high. Even as you get older you
should not have a fear of having children, even if the child has Down syndrome. All
parents will love there children unconditionally it is part of nature. Lindeman also stated
about her children “…the prospect of having a baby with Down syndrome didn’t scare
me.” (2008) A child that is differently challenged should not scare anyone, we are all
different and special in are own way, no one should be afraid of differences.
There are also cases where the family does not have the means to take care of a
differently challenged child, someone would be willing to take them as there own based
on Gregg L. Cunningham’s research in 2000 he states: “One reason frequently given for
the toleration of large-scale abortion of birth-defective infants is that the cost of caring
for them is unmanageable.”(pg. 3) However, if a couple was trying to have children they
most likely thought about it and made sure they were financially stable. In that case why
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would a special needs child be more of a financial burden? Leonard Kellner, president
of Lenetix Medical Screening Laboratory stated “The cost of the tests in both the first
and second trimesters is about $565…” (Portner, 2004, pg. 3) “The CDC estimates that
care for people with Down’s costs $1.8 billion per year.” (Cunningham, 2000, pg. 3) The
cost of an average child in the United State is about $13,830, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Children are expensive but life is priceless.
No matter what some people may still choose they do not want a differently
challenged child, in those cases there is still no reason to abort the child. There are
people all over the world that would be happy to have any child. “The National
Committee for Adoption reports that “there is a waiting list of screened families who
want to adopt seriously disabled newborns, including babies with Down’s Syndrome and
spina bifida.” (Cunningham, 2000, pg.2).
I do not live in a “perfect” world and I would not want to, with everyone being
different it makes the world more diverse. Aborting a baby for having Down syndrome is
implying that there is something wrong with the differently challenged, when in fact there
is nothing wrong with anyone, we are all unique and different in are own way. I
understand that life can be hard and people want to make it as easy as possible.
However, if someone feels they would not be able to care for their differently challenged
child there is always adoption, it is a better alternative to abortion.
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Works Cited
Cunningham, G. L. (2006). “Aborting a Handicapped Fetus Is Unethical.” Problems
with Death. Ed. David A. Becker. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Gale Opposing
Viewpoints in Context.
Dickler J. (2011). “The rising cost of raising a child.” CNNMony.New York. Retrieved
from: http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/pf/cost_raising_child/index.htm
Einfeld, S. (2010). “Down Syndrome--New Prospects for an Ancient Disorder.” JAMA:
Journal Of The American Medical Association, 303(24), 2525.
Harmon, A. (2007) “Genetic Testing + Abortion = ???.” New York Times. New York, NY.
SIRS IssuesResearcher.
Lindeman, R. (2008) “Take Down syndrome out of the abortion debate.” CMAJ:
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 179 (10), 1088. doi:10.1503/cmaj.081583
Portner, J. (2004). “Early Screening Method for Down Syndrome Found Effective.” San
Jose Mercury News. San Jose, CA. SIRS Issues Researcher.
Willo-Site Designer. (200-2012). “Down Syndrome: American Pregnancy Association.”
Retrieved from: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/birthdefects/downsyndrome.html