Do You Think It's Alright To Have An Abortion If Your Child Is Diagnosed Ill In Utero

[Seil]

The question I want to ask that I couldn't really fit into the title box was "Do you think it's okay to have an abortion if your child is dignosed with an incurable condition while in utero?"

With medical technology, we can discover prblems with a new born before they're born, but I want to ask about down syndrome specifically. It's a disorder characterized by the presence of an extra twenty-first chromosome. There's a list of complications involved with down syndrome, like increased risk for heart disease, eye problems and epilepsy.

Some people have their own opinions on abortion of a child with the disorder.
While those with down syndrome speak out.
Some parents actually choose to have babies with disorders.

Originally Posted by http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6225871

A study of 78 parents of Down's syndrome children shows that, while most were in favour of abortion for a handicapped fetus, they were divided equally on whether euthanasia (no distinction made between active and passive euthanasia) was an acceptable practice. Only a third considered an average Down's syndrome child could be a suitable candidate for euthanasia. While parents argued that the degree of handicap of the child was the crucial factor in making this decision, in fact the social class of the parents themselves was the only variable which was statistically significantly related to their opinions. Differences arose from the parents' lack of agreement on what constituted a sufficiently severe handicap.

KIE: A 1981 study of parents of Down's syndrome children in South Wales surveyed parents' attitudes toward abortion and euthanasia for severe congenital handicaps. Of the 78 parents responding, 60 approved of abortion for a handicapped fetus. They were equally divided on whether euthanasia, active or passive, was acceptable but only a third approved of euthanasia for the average Down's syndrome infant. Although parents considered the degree of handicap the crucial factor in their decisions, researchers found social class to be the only statistically significant variable.

A deaf couple hopes to have a deaf child.
A deaf man speaks out against handicapped abortion.

Not many people look at medical technology going both ways. Yes we've discovered a way to diagnose illness before the child is born, but we've also taken strides to help the disabled:

Things like cochlear implants are available.
A cochlear implant is major surjery, though. It's not as easy as sign language.

What's your opinion on abortion if the child is kown to have a condition or disorder tat's "incuable?"