Prenatal Testing: An Argumentative Analysis

The DRC argues that prenatal testing is the gateway for a new form of discrimination that reduces people to a single unwanted gene. In cases where a potential parent is found to be carrying a particular gene or the fetus itself is seen to possess an unwanted gene, the idea of selective abortion more often than not comes to the fore. Citing Barbara Katz Rothman’s interviews, Suter states that “most counselors would have amniocentesis themselves. More than half would have, or want their daughters to have an amniocentesis even at age 25, a ‘low-risk age’… Most would have abortions for most abnormalities, and half said they would abort for any abnormality” (Suter 246). With this, selective abortion becomes a new form of discrimination. The DRC …show more content…
However, as seen, along with this negative side of the prenatal testing, there are many positives for potential mothers. The argument then swings to who decides if a pregnant person should do the testing. Who decides what a pregnant person does with the results of the test? Should genetic counselors be more direct in their recommendations after positive tests, despite the limitation of doing so because of their professional value which prevents them from not being direct? In the end, who truly decides the fate of the fetus/potential child- the potential mother or all who have influenced …show more content…
Why should the parent who didn’t sign up the for this additional responsibility be forced to bear such responsibility? Scholars would argue that it is an issue of rights- the pregnant women’s right to not reproduce, that is, to abort a child she decides that she no longer wants, and the fetus’s right to life. An argument put forward by the DRC, Parental Attitude Argument provides some answers to the questions. The argument claims that using prenatal testing to select against some traits indicates a problematic conception of an attitude toward parenthood. For me, it raises the question of who is fit to be a parent? But I am forced to ask- who determines who is fit to be a parent? I would argue that the government is a good candidate for determining the criteria. However, with this, I am forced to see the possibility of another form of discrimination if an entity is left to determine the persons that are fit to be parents. It is a struggle to easily justify any such discrimination. However, there must be an entity that has the duty to protect the right of the fetus to life. What sense does it make to fight one discrimination by creating another form of discrimination? I would argue that it is even worse to coerce women into bringing to term an unwanted fetus. The likely outcome is entering a tangled web of ethical dilemmas. However, the DRC approach is different as it attacks the lack of or