Now I realise this is going to be a touchy subject, and I'll probably have opinions that upset or clash with people, but here goes. In advance, I mean no disrespect to anyone born disabled.
Now I hear of parents with disabled or mentally challenged kids saying they wouldn't change a thing, and I can understand them saying that, they love their child and I'm not taking anything away from them. However, I feel if I was in that situation and could snap my fingers to get them out of the wheelchair, or to fix whatever part of their brain had the malfunction, and there was no risk, I'd do it. It's not me saying I want to 'improve' the kid, but to give them a better chance of enjoying life normally.
So, I guess the big question, its near future and there's been huge breakthroughs in medical science.
You or your partner, whoever is pregnant is in for a scan, and its discovered that he's going to be born paralysed from the waist down. Or Blind. Or perhaps with Down's Syndrome. The doctor reminds you that now we can just give you a pill and it'll 'fix' it, and he'll be born without the nerve damage to the spine, or restore his vision, or the Down's Syndrome. Just take the pill, and you'll give birth to the same kid, just without the disability.
Do you, and if not , why not?
I fully understand that people are against aborting a baby that's not considered 'perfect', and I think that's morally wrong, personally, but that's not the discussion I'm offering.
A simple 'if you could take a zero risk pill during pregnancy to remove any serious 'defects' from a future child, would you?' I'm talking about serious mental disorders and disabilities here, not pattern baldness or acne. Again apologies if the whole topic seems offensive, I'm finding it difficult to phrase this sensitively.
I heard someone discussing a similar thing, when the subject of putting in a special order for your child, and getting a blonde, blue eyed boy, who's smart and healthy and strong. I was wondering who'd not choose that, given the option. (not the blonde n blue eyed bit, but the healthy and smart and strong part). In fact, would you do that too, if it was a simple case of a pill during pregnancy guaranteeing you a strong, smart, healthy baby, or leave it to fate?
Now I hear of parents with disabled or mentally challenged kids saying they wouldn't change a thing, and I can understand them saying that, they love their child and I'm not taking anything away from them. However, I feel if I was in that situation and could snap my fingers to get them out of the wheelchair, or to fix whatever part of their brain had the malfunction, and there was no risk, I'd do it. It's not me saying I want to 'improve' the kid, but to give them a better chance of enjoying life normally.
So, I guess the big question, its near future and there's been huge breakthroughs in medical science.
You or your partner, whoever is pregnant is in for a scan, and its discovered that he's going to be born paralysed from the waist down. Or Blind. Or perhaps with Down's Syndrome. The doctor reminds you that now we can just give you a pill and it'll 'fix' it, and he'll be born without the nerve damage to the spine, or restore his vision, or the Down's Syndrome. Just take the pill, and you'll give birth to the same kid, just without the disability.
Do you, and if not , why not?
I fully understand that people are against aborting a baby that's not considered 'perfect', and I think that's morally wrong, personally, but that's not the discussion I'm offering.
A simple 'if you could take a zero risk pill during pregnancy to remove any serious 'defects' from a future child, would you?' I'm talking about serious mental disorders and disabilities here, not pattern baldness or acne. Again apologies if the whole topic seems offensive, I'm finding it difficult to phrase this sensitively.
I heard someone discussing a similar thing, when the subject of putting in a special order for your child, and getting a blonde, blue eyed boy, who's smart and healthy and strong. I was wondering who'd not choose that, given the option. (not the blonde n blue eyed bit, but the healthy and smart and strong part). In fact, would you do that too, if it was a simple case of a pill during pregnancy guaranteeing you a strong, smart, healthy baby, or leave it to fate?
