Down's Disease Unborn Babies Case Study

Down syndrome is named after Dr. J.L. Down, who first discovered and studied the condition. It is part of a large number of disabilities known as intellectual disabilities. Down syndrome is present at birth and individuals are usually diagnosed during pregnancy or shortly after birth. There are three types of Down syndrome. The most common of these involves an extra number 21 chromosome, which gives the individual 47 instead of 46 total chromosomes. A chromosome breaking and then reattaching to another chromosome characterizes translocation, which is the second type of Down syndrome. The third type, nondisjunction occurs when a pair of chromosomes fail to separate properly during nuclear division. Individuals with this disability usually

Susan has being trying for many years to have a child but she couldn’t concide at any other time but the one that God choiced for her. It’s unfortunate that the doctors told her that her baby will be born with down syndrome, however that those not give her the right to distroye something that God has created in his own image. One way she can handle this issues is to pray to God for him to restore the health of child before delivery or she can listen to Richard whom, obvious does not believe in a God and regret her decision forever. This can be a difficult call to make for a non believer, because most of them think of the physical aspect of life, like Richard said it is be to end the misory of both the child and the mother.

There are many people with permanent disability’s that contribute to our society in very useful ways. In most cases, these people are viewed as being courageous. This kind of a reaction is typical but not always honest. There are a lot of people are uncomfortable around those that are considered “less than normal”. In her article The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have, Patricia Bauer writes about Down’s syndrome and abortion. Bauer is a former reporter and bureau chief for the Washington Post.

Editing the so-called ‘defaults’ in unborn children is similar to playing God and would produce a society akin to one in a dystopian novel. The belief that we are all created equally has always been a part of our morals. Parents should love their children no matter what, including the parents of those with genetic disorders such as down syndrome. Beneath this unconditional love, however, hides the idea that our children would be better off without such conditions. It is within our human nature to strive for perfection, including perfect disorder-less children.

Over the course of time, selective infanticide has been heavily debated and surrounded by much controversy. Harriet Johnson’s piece “Unspeakable Conversations” navigates through the discourse between Johnson and selective infanticide advocate Peter Singer. Real world applications of the social and medical model of disability are embedded all throughout Johnson’s personal account of her encounters with Singer, causing audiences to think of these models in ways other than textbook applications. The work written by Johnson was published very recently, and it is evident that the controversy surrounding selective infanticide at the time of its publication is still present today. Johnson’s piece on selective infanticide offers a stance on the matter that should not be ignored because it is coming from someone disabled. Further analyzation of the text provided will support this claim.

Discovering you are pregnant with a child is supposed to be one of the best days of your life, but finding out your baby has the one extra 21st chromosome could change everything. Author and national correspondent for the New York Times, Amy Harmon, fights for children and families affected by the disease in her article, “Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus.” Harmon recognizes in her article that raising a child with this disease is not easy. She provides evidence of this by including quotes and personal stories from parents and family members whose loved ones are affected by it. She illustrates a genuine passion for the growing number of parents that are “Convinced that more couples would chose to continue the pregnancies if they better appreciated what it meant to raise a child with Down syndrome”(Harmon). To better put it in perspective, an estimated 90% of women chose to have an abortion if they are given a positive diagnosis for Down syndrome.

After trying for many years, Susan finally gets pregnant. Unfortunately, a blood test confirms that her baby has Down syndrome, and her doctors suggest she abort the fetus. Susan has a successful career and wants to maintain a healthy balance between her career and family. Yet she feels very uncomfortable with abortion. She seeks some advice from Richard, an influential professor of evolutionary biology who has spent his career seeking to further human potential and minimize human suffering. When Susan asks Richard if she should abort the fetus or give birth to a baby with Down syndrome, Richard replied that human beings should increase happiness and decrease suffering in this world, and that therefore he would suggest that she abort, though he also stated that she must make this choice for herself. Richard emphasized the lifelong suffering of both the child with Down syndrome and Susan as the child’s caretaker and stated that it may be immoral to bring a baby into the world if she knew the kind of suffering the child would experience. In fact, Richard suggested that perhaps the most ethical course of action would be to prevent this baby from living a life full of suffering. (This scenario is based on the following article by Richard Dawkins (2014): https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/abortion-down-syndrome-an-apology-for-letting-slip-the-dogs-of-twitterwar/). How should Susan respond? What decision should she make if her baby would suffer with Down syndrome, yet

Many would choose to argue that those who have a certain mental illness or learning disability are not considered a special needs child. These people only consider those who may have physical abnormalities to be special needs. Because many think this way, they may not want to help the special needs community because they are afraid of it being “awkward”. “About 70 percent of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted.” says Becker, Writer and mother of a daughter with Down Syndrome (Garrison). Many people choose not to be involved with special needs because they don’t want to be put in that situation or won’t know how to interact with them.

While wrongful birth does not just represent children with down syndrome it represents all kinds of birth problems children are born with. A couple won a $4.5 million in a lawsuit for wrongful birth. The parents claimed “They would have never brought their son Bryan into the world if they had known about his horrific disabilities” (Hallowell, 2011). The parents son was born with only three limbs, no arms and one leg; however, if Dr. Marie Morel and technicians at OB/GYN specialists of the Palm Beaches did properly administered two ultrasounds and seen he was missing three limbs the parents would have terminated the pregnancy (Howell, 2011). The parents “understandably upset that they had no warning about the

Since an atheist does not believe in a creator, life is simply happenstance. Therefore the main motivation of an atheist is to enjoy life here and prevent as much pain and suffering as possible. So in light of this line of thinking, “why not avoid the personal, familial, and financial cost of bringing a child with a disability into the world?” (Shriver, 2007).

The book by George Estreich, The Shape of the Eye, is a memoir where the author explains his experience with his daughter who was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome after birth. The author expresses his shock and disbelief since this was the last thing he expected from the much awaited birth of his daughter. The reason why he acts in utter disbelief is that he and his wife did not attend prenatal visit with the assurance that his wife’s delivery would be safe and the child to be born would be okay and free from such disorders. The story acts as a motivating factor for parents who have children with such problems and may be pondering whether their children are a curse or a gift. Most parts of the book show how the Estreichs' treated their daughter

The dream of every expectant mother is to give birth to a healthy baby when the nine months elapse. However, the culture of uncertainty among eager mothers has engulfed their thoughts of the possibility of giving birth to children with disabilities. As a result, they have turned to clinics for prenatal screening with a hope of getting a clean bill of health from medical practitioners about their current situation. All these efforts are not in vain in their minds as long as they are assured their babies will not have Down’s syndrome or any other birth defect. These frantic efforts pertain image of a society that dread disability. With the bold writings on the societal wall, people with disabilities have legitimate worries about the way in which prenatal screening is handled in our culture.

od created mankind as moral beings and to share His ways with others through compassionate care (Shelly & Miller, 2006). The fetal abnormality case study tells the story of Marco and Jessica, a couple from Mexico who have been living in the U.S. for three years. The couple had worked hard since their move to the U.S. and is now able to afford their own apartment. Prior to moving to their new place, Jessica finds out that they’re pregnant. Tests revealed the fetus had undeveloped arms and the possibility of Down syndrome. The couple is faced with a moral dilemma in contemplating their options. This paper will examine how this couple, their doctor and a family member determine moral status and express their perspective of the pregnancy.

The Journal of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disability compared the attitudes of parents of children with Down syndrome in 1970 to those parents today. Forty percent of parent’s today report they have been confronted with accusations that their child could have been avoided (Shiver 10). Although policies over the past thirty years have become supportive of people with Down syndrome, parents frequently receive the message from society that they have chosen wrongly to deliver a child with Down syndrome. Parents do not want to live through guilt or discrimination of society. Therefore, most parents choose to abort their child, if the NIPT is positive. If there were not prenatal testing, there would be no way to determine if the child has Down syndrome before birth and parents would not be questioned why they chose for their child to experience life. In comparison, in Race: A History beyond Black and White, Aronson states, “Physical differences matter. The color of our skin, the curl of our hair, the size of our nose or lips-these are important. How we look is not just a personal matter; it identifies of a larger group” (Aronson 3). Physical differences matter, because those with Down syndrome often portray a small nose, a small mouth, upward eye slant, and flat back of the head. In society, those without the disease are prejudiced against people with Down syndrome, even though they are capable of big accomplishments. “We, those like us, those we find beautiful, are superior. You, those unlike us, those we find alien, are inferior. And yet the idea itself is so powerful because it confirms our ancient sense that those who look different are aliens and enemies” (Aronson 127). A binary has been created in society, that those with Down syndrome are less since they have distinct characteristics. Society negatively influenced parents of those with Down syndrome,

Life defined by the Oxford Dictionary is “The condition or attribute of living or being alive; animate existence. Opposed to death or inanimate existence” (Life n., 2015). A person with a mental or physical disabilities by the definition above, despite their disabilities, still has life. There however is a heated conversation on the worth and quality of life of someone with disabilities specifically Down’s Syndrome. The discussion is on the subject of whether allowing the life of someone born with Downs Syndrome, and all the hardships that come with it, is a life worth starting. This paper will take a look at the Ethical Dilemma of aborting babies with Down Syndrome, the Christian worldview of the quality of life, and the options that can be