Comments on: Writers: ‘Are we saying society would be better off without Down’s syndrome babies?’

By: bloop

bloop — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:40:06 +0000

“myths about disability: “I’ll have to quit my job. No one will help me. My child won’t be valued by society.”

Why do you call these myths ?

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:47:53 +0000

I beg to differ. I believe the problem actually is with the “right to choose”. I value the honesty of Waldman in asking the tough quesiton of herself – but let’s also be honest about this: it’s not a terribly risky question when, in fact, aborting babies at 36 weeks b/c of Down syndrome is “okay” and legal. That is, we are already firmly entrenched in eugenics – whether we call them private choices or public policy. What’s the difference, really?

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:52:53 +0000

It’s not about the right to choose. The decision to end a pregnancy, for whatever reason, should not be prohibited by laws. It’s that when such an overwhelming number of women decide that life with a disability is one not worth living, there is something systemic going on.

Choices are made by individuals based on their life experiences. And when our life experience does not include meaningful interaction with people with disabilities, we make decisions in a fear-filled vacuum. We make decisions based on what we think we can “handle” – or on myths about disability: “I’ll have to quit my job. No one will help me. My child won’t be valued by society.” Without a real, public dialogue about the realities and myths of raising a differently-abled child, there is no way for women facing this very difficult decision to make an informed choice.

The problem is not the tests or the procedure, but the lack of unbiased and complete information. Our current system of genetic counseling (which I’ve been through) is fundamentally flawed.