Poll: Would you abort a pregnancy if the child would have Down Syndrome?

[Zyxx]

Absolutely not. I'm against abortion period, but ignoring that for the moment, I've read several cases of people - very intelligent, successful people - who've gained a lot from their children with Down's, who feel that seeing the world through their child's eyes has improved them as people. I personally know one woman who has several children, all of them very intelligent, artistic, top-of-class material, except for her youngest who has fairly severe Downs. When asked what it was like raising a handicapped child after so many brilliant ones, she said "He's the easiest one! With the rest, I had to deal with their new drama or interest every single day. It's a lot simpler making him happy."

It's impossible to know what someone will contribute despite (or because of) their "defects". I wouldn't dream of depriving my child, or myself, or the other people he or she will meet, of that chance.

 

[Cakes]

All I know is that I wouldn't be able to raise the kid properly.

So all you anti-abortion people can fight over who gets him. What's that? No takers? Aw hell, I thought you were trying to be good people.

It's called adoption.

I wouldn't want to live with a mental disability like that and I wouldn't subject anyone else to live in such a way, better to put them out of their misery right then and there.

Something tells me you don't know too many people with Down Syndrome that you refer to it as "misery".

I would MUCH rather be dead than retarded, so I would absolutely abort a child that was determined to have mental defects. No one should have to live like that. No, I don't care about your anecdotal evidence of people with defects being "happy." They don't know any better; they don't know that they're hardly more than animals, and they don't realize how much they ruin the lives of the people that care about them.

It's a little bit shocking that you'd say they're 'little more than animals', seeing as they are people like the rest of us and most of them are capable of leading normal lives and taking care of themselves.

 

[micky]

I'm mildly disgusted at the number of people who are saying yes. My uncle has down syndrome and while he may not perceive things like we do he still has thoughts and emotions. When my grandparents had to send him to a home because they were no longer able to take care of him I remember that a few days later he was crying because he missed them. He's still human. He's still capable of being happy or sad or angry, and even if he can't express himself he still loves his parents and his sister, and they love him. I desperately hope the people here just don't understand what they're talking about or else I fear for the human race.

i totally agree with you, i was surprised at how many people said yes and my mom works with disabled kids and ive met many and found them all to be really nice HUMAN BEINGS. this got me pretty angry.

 

[Red Albatross]

no because this would lead people to believe then that any mental sickenss would be a good reason for abortion in my opinion. If that happens then its possible that they would also abort if the childs not "perfect" after a certain point.

But how would that effect you in anyway? I've heard this before but I don't see what the issue is, people have the babys they want to have, it doesn't mean they aren't going to raise them with love and care. If someone wants to abort a perfectly fine baby because they don't like what color it's eyes are going to be then it's their loss.

I would MUCH rather be dead than retarded, so I would absolutely abort a child that was determined to have mental defects. No one should have to live like that. No, I don't care about your anecdotal evidence of people with defects being "happy." They don't know any better; they don't know that they're hardly more than animals, and they don't realize how much they ruin the lives of the people that care about them.

WOW! You really just let it all hang loose there didn't you? I'll just let someone else tear into that since I don't feel like writing out my own "person I knew who had a mental disability but was still cool" story.

I don't see a point in pulling punches. Opinions are opinions. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and I won't get butthurt if they don't.

I do know that some high-functioning mentally disabled people are capable of taking care of themselves in some capacity. Most are also very pleasant and personable. Maybe ignorance really is bliss, but the fact still remains that I wouldn't want to live that way, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. If I were in an accident, and became mentally or severely physically disabled, I've already made it clear to my family and friends that I would prefer to be mercifully put to death. I could make the argument that in that respect, I'm following the Golden Rule of treating others how I'd expect to be treated. Morality is hardly ever black and white.

 

[Jimmybobjr]

Abortion should be banned, unless under medical or other certain conditions.

Considering that the one reason FOR abortions that ive heard the MOST is teen preggers.

You bloody fault, deal with it.

 

[aros777]

Well when I'm asked abortion questions I like to think of it as asking a question about yourself And its that "Even if I'm retarded or handicapped do i still want to be alive?" I choose yes most of the time

 

[Wardnath]

Edit: Disregard this post, my proper answer is on page 9.

 

[kickyourass]

I'd never even consider it a possibility, sure people with down syndrome can have very difficult lives, but what right do I have to be a parent at all, if I'm not willing to put the work in when my chid is going through hardships?

 

[mark0217]

I know we all have to be "politically correct" and all that, but I'd probably abort (of course it'd be up to my fiancee, but I'm 100% sure she'd do it, but not without a lot of introspection and sadness). I wouldn't compare them to animals since they still have emotions and all that makes us humans, but yeah, sorry. I'm barely equipped to deal with a normal child, I wouldn't be able to cope with having the life of a down syndrome child in my hands.
Also, I can barely fit into society as it is too, and I know it's difficult even for fully functioning people, I cannot imagine the hardships of a disabled person. So yeah, I would terminate and move on.

 

[therookie95]

Although I couldn't bring myself to let my partner abort for that reason, I still would think it would be better to go for adoption, but I still can't say for sure.
I do however, think that if her life was in danger there would be no reason to not have an abortion

 

[mark0217]

Abortion should be banned, unless under medical or other certain conditions.

Considering that the one reason FOR abortions that ive heard the MOST is teen preggers.

You bloody fault, deal with it.

Really? "Your fault"?
It's not like you manually and purposefully add that 21st chromosome.

 

[MrHero17]

I don't see a point in pulling punches. Opinions are opinions. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and I won't get butthurt if they don't.

I do know that some high-functioning mentally disabled people are capable of taking care of themselves in some capacity. Most are also very pleasant and personable. Maybe ignorance really is bliss, but the fact still remains that I wouldn't want to live that way, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. If I were in an accident, and became mentally or severely physically disabled, I've already made it clear to my family and friends that I would prefer to be mercifully put to death. I could make the argument that in that respect, I'm following the Golden Rule of treating others how I'd expect to be treated. Morality is hardly ever black and white.

Well I can certainly understand not wanting to live if one were ever to become retarded due to an accident. I just thought it sounded ignorant to say that retarded people have no awareness of themselves or the effect on other people. Some of the severe cases might not but it's an unfair generalization to be tossing out.

Also what does "they don't know that they're hardly more than animals" actually mean. I guess your saying that retarded people(which covers a broad spectrum) aren't any better then animals which sounds like a hastily formed statement. But I'm confused since you could use that quote to insult religious people who think humans are divine and aren't simply a more intelligent Neanderthal.

Abortion should be banned, unless under medical or other certain conditions.

Considering that the one reason FOR abortions that ive heard the MOST is teen preggers.

You bloody fault, deal with it.

They are dealing with it, getting an abortion is a pretty damn final way to deal with a pregnancy.

What are you so concerned about anyway? That after they get their abortion they're going to go out and have more sex?(hopefully making better choices about protection) People like having sex, if you can remove the baby having part of it I would consider it an improvement on the practice.

 

[Therumancer]

My thoughts on the subject are complex, and I've put a lot of thought into situations like this.

While being pro-choice (despite my generally rightward leanings) I believe it should actually be illegal to have a baby that can be determined to have severe birth defects or severe retardation while it's forming. Such a child is going to be a burden to society, and while I can understand parental attachment I think this is very similar to how we legally regulate inbreeding.

In previous years when we knew more about mental retardation it was a touchier subject. People would point out that guys like Einstein and Lee Iacoca <SP, I can't spell it> would
be considered retarded as an excuse for not killing or aborting defective babies. At that time we couldn't determine the extent of the problems as reliably, nor did we know as well what they would develop into.

Preventing things like this is one of the big reasons why I am such a big supporter of genetic engineering, human eugenics, and a lot of things that a lot of people are very alarmist about. I want to see such technologies developed and distributed to the point where such problems can be identified and solved easily and affordably. It also leads into other social issues, right now people argue that if they aren't religious or morally opposed that they should be able to marry their sister or whatever. I don't much care for the idea, but with such tech social/moral questions like that go away and you can pretty much tell them "knock yourself out if you both really want to".

I'll also say that things like any kind of "mercy killing" become touchy when humans and human emotions are involved. Rational thought oftentimes goes out the door. A lot of people will point to retarded relatives, children, or siblings who they love and will point out get by. However those people get by with a lot of public money and special assistance, not to mention the simple question as to what happens when the relatives caring for and assisting them now are gone, then they become an even bigger burden on society. What's more contributions by such people are frequently argued, but rarely go into the cost of the assistance that got them that far. Sure you might have some retarded guy who has worked at Mcdonalds, or a mail room for 10, 15, or even 20 years... however over that time period how much was invested by the state through education, employment assistance, special training, assisted medical care (drugs, constant monitoring of the condition, etc...) and the like. Most of those programs doubtlessly involved contribution of taxpayer money, unless filthy rich it's doubtful the family was able to shoulder the burden of a retarded child/sibling unassisted.

I am not anti-charity, I mean there are plenty of people who develop medical conditions later (which will also hopefully be corrected), injure themselves, or whatever else that put them in a similar league. Heck, I'm retired on social security myself. Dealing with all these things are fine, and I agree with making it a moral responsibility worthy of using public money. However I do not think intentionally dumping retarded and badly damaged offspring into the pile is a good idea, that's asking for trouble. As our recession shows we need to be wiser with how we use our society's resources, no one issue like this is responsible, but every little bit you remove winds up helping to keep the economy strong. Choices are never easy but you DO have to set priorities and I think maintaining badly damaged babies into badly damaged lives is pretty low on that list of priorities.

Apologies to whom this offends, this is simply my opinion. I'll also say that part of my thought processes are that while relatively intelligence I apparently suffered brain damage after I was born, I had some kind of condition that had my head closing up and a plate was placed inside and then removed. I have these giant dents on the top of my head and have dealt with emotional problems through my entire life. It's all well documented, but I'm still not entirely sure if I was basically born broken, or if the doctors messed up. The bottom line is that even while relatively intelligent, I don't think I'm a boon to society, and I wouldn't want to put anyone through the pain and problems I've had to endure.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Depends if my girlfriend/wife wants to abort (although, I would encourage it). It's her body.

 

[Infinatex]

It come down to destroying 3 lives or just the one, and that one in not really a life yet anyway.

 

[Red Albatross]

I don't see a point in pulling punches. Opinions are opinions. I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and I won't get butthurt if they don't.

I do know that some high-functioning mentally disabled people are capable of taking care of themselves in some capacity. Most are also very pleasant and personable. Maybe ignorance really is bliss, but the fact still remains that I wouldn't want to live that way, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. If I were in an accident, and became mentally or severely physically disabled, I've already made it clear to my family and friends that I would prefer to be mercifully put to death. I could make the argument that in that respect, I'm following the Golden Rule of treating others how I'd expect to be treated. Morality is hardly ever black and white.

Well I can certainly understand not wanting to live if one were ever to become retarded due to an accident. I just thought it sounded ignorant to say that retarded people have no awareness of themselves or the effect on other people. Some of the severe cases might not but it's an unfair generalization to be tossing out.

Also what does "they don't know that they're hardly more than animals" actually mean. I guess your saying that retarded people(which covers a broad spectrum) aren't any better then animals which sounds like a hastily formed statement. But I'm confused since you could use that quote to insult religious people who think humans are divine and aren't simply a more intelligent Neanderthal.

Oh, I strongly dislike religious wingnuts, too. Their ignorance is willful, in a way it's worse. And there are plenty of people who are mentally competent that hardly function in society because of a complete lack of common sense. Mentally disabled people don't hold a monopoly on that. In fact, in the area where I live, I see countless examples of people that are much more worthless. Some high-functioning disabled people even have jobs and do volunteer work, plus as I pointed out before, most of them are very kind, even though it's because they just don't realize what a cruel world it is. In a perverse way, I almost envy that part. I don't mean to tar them with the same brush, but the poll sounded to me like it meant the kind of disabled that would mean the child would be a low-functioning type, and I won't gloss over that I believe it would be kinder to forestall an existence like that.

 

[Gigano]

Certainly yes. Or for any other reason that might indicate to me that the featus - once born and reaching personhood - would be an extra burden on me/us, on society, and/or itself be worse off in life compared to a featus of another genetic variety.

I see no reason not to, given we're talking pre-human existance, and that the aborted featus will lose nothing as it does not have the capacity for that on that stage. Bringing a child into existence where it will with increased likelihood unnecessarily (cause) suffer(ing), when you could wait 6 months and create a less risk-stricken individual, seems cruel and foolish to me.

In the immortal words of Singer: "Digging up an acorn is not the same as felling a mighty oak".

[small]Though in the end, it wouldn't really be my call, of course[/small]

 

[Reyalsfeihc]

It sounds awful, but very little good comes out of it. I would still love them, without a doubt - but if it was detected early enough than I'd really consider an abortion.

Having a child with down syndrome means the family suffers. I was good friends with a girl who had a little brother with down syndrome, and everyone of the family members (especially the parents) had their quality of life taken away. They all loved him but you can see the stress it puts on family.

My sis doesn't have downs but four rare genetic disorders, and if my kid were ever to be like her then no, I wouldn't abort the child. She's the sweetest kid in the world, and literally has no fears in life. She's taught me more about what's important in life than I could ever have known without her.