Online petition accuses OB/Gyns of bias
February 6th, 2008An online petition now sporting 261 signatures accuses the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of discrimination in recommending prenatal screening for Down syndrome to all pregnant women, regardless of age. The site does not disclose the names of the petition’s authors.
An excerpt:
The true purpose of ACOG’s recommendation is to prejudicially eliminate babies with Down syndrome. We parents believe that the National Down Syndrome organizations need to take a stand on the abortion issue, not as it relates to the laws in our country, but as it relates to Down syndrome. Advocacy on behalf of individuals with Down syndrome needs to begin at conception, not at birth.
See related post, about the Nova Scotia Down Syndrome Society’s petition drive asking the Canadian government to assure that accurate and balanced information is provided to prospective parents about genetic conditions that are diagnosed either prenatally or after the birth of a child. That petition currently reports 821 signatures.
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on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 7:49 pm and is filed under Down syndrome, abortion, international, medicine, politics, prenatal diagnosis.
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February 9th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I’m the disabled mother of a disabled daughter, and am truly distressed at all the fearmongering against people with disabilities that goes on in medical contexts. I was pressured to abort my daughter 20 years ago and it looks like such pressures are still rampant.
Disability abortion does not make the world a more welcome and affirming place for us — quite the opposite.
That’s one big reason why I personally am pro-every life — before, during, and ever after birth.
Marysia from the Nonviolent Choice Directory, http://www.nonviolentchoice.info and http://www.nonviolentchoice.blogspot.com
February 7th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I am pro-choice, and my choice was not to get the prenatal test so that I could meet my son as a person before finding out about medical conditions or labels.
I’m so glad that I did. He is such a wonderful boy, and the stress of knowing that he had Down syndrome might have made our happy pregnancy into one filled with worry and fear. We knew that Down syndrome would be something that we could accept into our lives, but many people don’t have the confidence or knowledge to make that decision.
They need to have balanced information that helps them to make an informed choice. Not the one-sided information that really makes decisions for women. The current state of affairs is leading to misery and unhappiness for so many pregnant women, and leading to a loss of joy for so many.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Thanks so much for your work for the disability community. If I had the info that my son (11) would have been born with Down syndrome, I would have aborted him — like the other 90% of moms faced with this decision.
But it’s really ACOG and the big companies that should be aborted or unfunded or something. I’m thankful the word is getting out that disabled kids shouldn’t be automatically aborted anymore. Some moms couldn’t live with the decision they made if they aborted them.
I used to be very, very pro-choice. It’s my body and no one will tell me what to do with it. I’m not a teenager anymore. My health wasn’t in jeopardy. But I would have killed my beautiful boy cause I thought I couldn’t handle it if I had a prenatal diagnosis.
Now I know better.
I’ll let all my ob/gyns have a copy of the article, along with my regular doctor, pediatrician, specialists, etc. THANK YOU!