Dawkins on Down Syndrome foetus: "Abort and Try again"

[the_bob_delusion]

“Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice,” -Dawkins.

Discuss. 

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

No one is perfect.....

[channys_mum]

[k0llectable5]

I agree totally Siggie 🙂 But ask any parent who has given birth to a healthy baby without and birth defects/deformaties, 5 fingers and toes ect and I bet most of em would say that their baby is pretty damn perfect 🙂

[channys_mum]

I had an opinion, but I deleted it because I was about to contradict myself.

So shall I just say that unless we have walked the mile, how on earth can we say what we would do.

[***super_nova***]

---

@j*oono wrote:

No, you said that.

They have to make the decision that is right for them and their baby.

---

Yes, and it cannot be just about this baby.  What has to be considered is the impact on other kids in the family.  And having Down Syndrome child that is incapable taking care of themselves means that the parents will become lifelong carrers.  Then there is the worry what will happen to the adult child when the parents are too old to care for them.

[the_great_she_elephant]

---

@j*oono wrote:

No, you said that.

They have to make the decision that is right for them and their baby.

---

I don't know the circumstances under which Dawkins gave that advice - how well he knew the woman concerned and whether he was speaking professionally or simply as a friend, but my own gut feeling is that no-one is qualified to advise a woman whether or not to have an abortion. You can discuss her options and spell out the consequences, both for and against. You can encourage her to examine and express her anxieties and uncertainties and you can reassure her that whatever decision she makes it will be the right one for her and her baby - but I don't think you should ever say. "This is what you should do", or even "This is what I would do." 

Of course, Dawkins is an Evolutionary Biologist and from a purely evolutionary point of view he is absolutely correct.

[the_bob_delusion]

---

@secondhand-wonderland wrote:

This is a hard one to have an opinion on because we all want to be moralistic and not just go around killing "people" because they aren't perfect.  

For me though, I honestly think this would be one of the few circumstances where I would abort and try again.  Not just because of the risk of all the possible health problems but because as a parent it must be so hard to have to care for a DS child (not to say that before too long you wouldn't just get used to it, but it just seems like a perfectly valid reason to abort imho.  

---

so essentially are you saying that if a parent is incapable of caring for a child, any child regardless of health, it just seems like a perfectly valid reason to abort?

[ruloinfovoter]

What do you think my chances are in this one Bob?

[the_bob_delusion]

huh?

[ruloinfovoter]

Do you think I answer questions?