Prenatal Testing

When parents know the fetus is “special”, they may be chosen to terminate the pregnancy. Thus, in general prenatal screening helps to detect congenital disabilities but is also thought to be the 'remedy' selective abortion (Seller, 1976).

Christine Le, an accountant living in Flushing, New York, gave birth to a healthy baby “Nathan” on January 29th, 2010. She found out that she was pregnant with her first child when her period was late. She had the routine prenatal care starting at 12 weeks and delivered at 40 weeks in a hospital with the present of her husband, Robert, and the in-laws. To insure her baby was healthy, Christine underwent several prenatal diagnostic methods like amniocentesis to examine for genetic defects. Another method was ultrasound; its purpose is to assess fetal age, multiple pregnancies, size and shape of the fetus. Christine underwent numerous lab tests to ensure that there are no complications (Berk, pg.43). Lab tests like a complete blood count that screens

This can be defined as heath care that is received while pregnant, and can be seen through a few of the many ways to obtain care: going for regular monthly checkups, taking prenatal vitamins, eating properly and healthily to obtain the nutrients needed (U.S Women’s Health Department, 2012). A healthy pregnancy increases the chances for a healthy newborn, and according to the U.S Women’s Health Department (2012), “babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care”. When taking care of the body and focusing on prenatal care, doctors are able to catch health problems in the baby earlier and health problems in the mother that can later affect the baby, and through proper prenatal care, it allows these issues to be treated early (U.S Women’s Health Department, 2012). In previous years and centuries, because prenatal care was not widely recognized, and future mothers did not recognize the importance of proper care of the fetus, the number of newborns born with birth defects or irregular vital signs was significantly higher than in today’s

If medical tests have proven that the child will be born with severe handicaps that would greatly reduce the quality of life or endanger the fetus, the opportunity to terminate should be available. Allowing abortion because of fetal disability may actually benefit the child in the long run, by saving it from a life full of unnecessary complications. This, however, is a very controversial reason and is not generally accepted by many people due to moral reasons.

Prenatal testing includes screening and diagnostic testing that can provide valuable information to parents about the baby’s health. “Women are routinely offered a variety of genetic screening tests during their first three months of pregnancy to evaluate the risk for genetic disorders in their unborn baby” (livescience.com). I believe prenatal testing and counseling should not be mandatory and that each person needs to make their own decision based on their specific circumstances. Many prenatal tests are noninvasive and only require blood or urine and can test for HIV, anemia, diabetes, hepatitis B and preeclampsia. An ultrasound can also be used to detect some abnormalities with the baby. Doctors may strongly recommend that women who

If the doctor tells you the baby wont be born healthy (brain dead or deformed) then you can get an abortion (Utility and rational self interest, 50%, 70)

The court determined this through a series of rational, starting with the Ninth Amendment. They asserted that the “right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the district court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." The court also asserted that protecting the mother’s health and the potential human life were the governments interests, and the government had the authority to make a stance on the topic. The matter of when abortion is safer than giving birth that the decision for abortion must be left to the mother and her physician. Another right that the decision preserved in the decision was that of a physician’s right to practice freely, absent government interest, not a woman’s right to choose.

The advanced technology today makes it possible to fetus’s potential conditions when it is born. Not everything is perfect and sometimes we find out that a baby

This brings about many ethical questions and moral concerns. The practice that likely incites the most controversy in selective abortion is sex selective reduction. As technology has advanced, the availability of ultrasound technology has provided practitioners with the ability to identify many fetal characteristics, one of which is gender (Higgins, 2016). Sex-selective reduction mirrors the practice of so called “gendercide” that occurs in countries such as China and India. In these countries sex selective abortion is used to create a population that is predominantly male. To American’s these methods may seem inhumane, and there are many organizations in the US and around the world attempting to stop gender specific abortion. What many Americans probably do not realize is these practices occur in the United States as well, and they have for a long time. While these methods are considered legal in the United States, the ethical implications of aborting fetuses based on sex creates an entirely new concern. The practice of selective abortion in general has created a number of ethical questions for society, and those practicing in the medical

The advancement of medical technology has made it possible to detect medical abnormalities while a child is still a fetus and can create difficult choices for parents to make if severe anomalies are discovered. There are many theories regarding the moral status of the fetus that can be applied when deciding how to proceed if these abnormalities are detected. In the fetal abnormality case study, Jessica, Marco, Maria, and Dr. Wilson each have varying opinions on what course of action to take based on these different theories of moral status.

Living in a world set up and built for able bodied people, it’s difficult for a disabled person to be brought up and adapt to carry out even the most simplest of everyday tasks. Aborting a disabled foetus may not intentionally be biologically discriminating, but instead, weighing up the consequences of continuing with the pregnancy until the stage of giving birth, taking into account what life will be like for the foetus in the future.

pregnancies with abnormalities.“This is a test done during pregnancy to get information about the fetus

The medical considerations often rely on moral and ethical issues, but the health care problems that may occur with the woman or fetus should also be brought to discussion. For instance, some women may have mental problems that require administration of specific medications, which impair the fetus and jeopardize its future functioning and health. Another reason for induced abortions, even after the first trimester, may include fetal anomalies. As stated by Bryant, Grimes, Garrett, and

Jackie and Michael are expecting their first baby. Jackie is 32 years old and is in good health. She is 15 weeks pregnant and wants to do everything possible to ensure a healthy baby. Even though they do not have risk factors within their families, she and Michael decide to have an amniocentesis.

Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily