By Dave Andrusko
National Right to Life President and Pro-Life Perspective Host Carol Tobias picks up today on the shocking statistics that show that as a result of advances of genetic testing, 90% of children diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome will be aborted. “It’s astounding to think that these precious children are never given the chance to live given story after story from parents who report lives full of energy and unlimited love from their children with Down syndrome,” she tells her audience at www.prolifeperspective.com.
In an illustration of what Dr. Will Johnson of Canadian Physicians for Life called “mission creep,” in 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG called for even more testing. The organization wrote that, “All pregnant women, regardless of age, should be offered screening for Down syndrome.” More women find out that their baby has Down syndrome, the more babies who will be aborted—unless we have a revolutionary change in attitude toward babies with disabilities.
Most of today’s edition of PLP talks about how the screening works and how if these screenings indicate there is a higher risk that an unborn child might have Down syndrome, doctors offer the mother additional diagnostic tests, including amniocentesis, which requires inserting a needle into the womb to draw amniotic fluid so the chromosomes of fetal cells can be examined. “Another test, Chorionic villus sampling, or CVS, collects fetal cells from the placenta via the cervix,” Mrs. Tobias says. “Both tests are almost 100 percent accurate in detecting Down syndrome in an unborn child.”
However, because the tests are invasive, they increase the risk of Miscarriage. Thus, the specter of blood tests that can be done earlier in pregnancy (possibly as early as ten weeks) increases the chances that even more babies with Down syndrome will be detected even earlier.
Why are 9 in 10 babies diagnosed with Down syndrome aborted? In no small part because (as Mrs. Tobias explains)
“Many parents are encouraged by doctors and other members of the medical community to abort a child with a genetic disorder such as Down syndrome. The negative aspects of the condition are frequently emphasized over the positive.”
Please listen tomorrow at www.prolifeperspective.com to hear more about eugenic abortions and Down syndrome. Mrs. Tobias will be looking at how doctors counsel patients who have been told their unborn child has Down syndrome.
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