Down Syndrome and Abortion - Now More than Ever?

"The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is recommending Down syndrome screening for all pregnant women," according to today's New York Times.

It used to be that the rather arbitrary age of 35 was the "floor" for recommending the procedure of amniocentesis, which could detect Downs in the babies "older" mothers were carrying. As mothers age they are more likely to have a Down baby, but because most babies are born to younger mothers, the sheer numbers mean that most Down babies are born to younger mothers.

Now a screening procedure allows an ultrasound to pick up symptoms of Downs in babies between 11 and 13 weeks of gestation. To be sure, amniocentesis would follow. Here's how the NYT put it "In the past, the more invasive procedure was seldom recommended for younger women because it could sometimes result in miscarriage. Now the risk is considered to be quite low, and in any event, Dr. James Goldberg said, for some couples 'losing a normal pregnancy secondary [because of or related to] the procedure is not as problematic as the birth of a Down syndrome child, so they're willing to take that risk." The assumption is that if the couples are seeking the test, they would abort an unhealthy baby.

That's scary, but this comment may be scarier: "The new guidelines are much better for the broader group of women who are having babies, Dr. Nancy Green, the [American College's]medical director told the New York Times, "and that's public health: doing the most good for the bigget number, the good in this case being the infomartion people need to make decisions" [about whether to abort].

Well, these new guidelines sure aren't doing much good for the Down babies which will be aborted, nor the boys and girls, men and women living with Downs and the people who love them, since the sure message is. . . "you shouldn't be here."

But even the message to the rest of us is, "no one 'imperfect' allowed, or at least wanted."

If we want a compassionate society, that's NOT going to do the public much good, Dr. Green.