Prenatal Diagnostic Argument Analysis

The DRC argues that prenatal testing is the gateway for a new form of discrimination that reduces people to a simple 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 Rothman interviews, Suter states that “most counselors would have 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, half said they would abort for any abnormality.” Selective abortion becomes a new form of discrimination. The DRC further argues that this specific mode of selecting disabling …show more content…
The DRC’s reflections and recommendations take up the issue surrounding the message that is being sent to potential parents of children with disabilities and the many persons who are living with disabilities. Adrienne Asch argues that with “prenatal diagnosis, a single trait stands in for the whole, the trait obliterates the whole. With both discrimination and prenatal diagnosis, nobody finds out about the rest. The tests send the message that there’s no need to find out about the rest.” It is one thing to want a person to have what society deems a ‘normal’ life and it is another thing that society claims that such person is better served not existing because of their particular disability. Whenever I see my friend Dwight, I do wish he wasn’t in a wheelchair, I do wish he could play football instead of just watching us play, and I wish he was able to fully express his thoughts so that we could have deep emotional and intellectual conversations. With prenatal testing, it is very likely that Dwight’s disabilities would have been detected. What would this mean? If I was faced with the decision, I am not his parent, but I would want him to do all the ‘basic’ things he is currently unable to do, however, I still value his life as much as the life of any. Still, that’s just me. What about the potential parents who are faced with the decision of bringing to term a fetus with a disability like Dwight’s or one that’s even worst. Whose decision is this? What moral responsibility these potential parents have for their potential children? Why should a potential mother be forced to carry the pregnancy of an abnormal child to a full term? What if the potential parent is not physically or emotionally ready to care for an abnormal