Complicated Questions

[lollardfish]

NY Times on Testing for Down Syndrome and it's consequences.

An interesting article and a subject I plan to write about down the road. This issue of how you break the news is pretty critical. Once, as Michael Berube wrote in his book, parents were told they had, or were going to have, a "mongoloid idiot" who would never recognize their parents, have an IQ of 20 or so, and would probably die by age 5. We've come a long way.

George Will wants to stop the test because, in his conservative reactionay mode, he wants to deny people information. He doesn't trust people.

I think, in my rosy liberal way, that people need to be educated and then allowed to make whatever choice they think is best, and that how we educate people is critical.

I do think the premise that programs for people with Down Syndrome will vanish if this test is made routine for women under 35 is flawed. Yes, rate of increase may slow, but the population won't vanish and hundreds of babies, at least (instead of the 5500) will still be born with the condition every year.

Anyway, it's complex. I look forward to seeing your comments.

Comments

[zinzinzinnia.livejournal.com]

My first reaction to some of the rationales listed in the article (and I haven't had a lot of time to ponder it fully) is that the argument that medical research allocations will decrease is a bit circular and perhaps specious -- although some of that research would go to things like improved heart-correction procedures, etc, wouldn't some of that research also go towards "correcting" other aspects of Down's, including, presumably, finding and "correcting" the genetic source of the condition? I recognize that some of the medical issues faced by children with Down's don't outweigh the other aspects that determine quality of life, but pointing out that these medical issues are important enough to warrant research is, in my mind, tantamount to pointing out how costly (not only in terms of money but in terms of emotional toll) those medical issues are.

My brain is a bit fried, and I'm the middle of a meeting, so I hope that makes some semblance of sense.