Monday, March 3, 2008

Selective Abortion

It was really interesting to read this article because it brought a lot of good points that I had never really thought about with people with disabilities. I think the part that really stuck out to me was the part about the "disabled fetus" issue, and how people view such a topic. The beginning of this section started out with the author talking to her friend about setting up a meeting for disabled people and genetic professionals. When the friend said the line about "our people," I felt that it was terrible for such a phrase to be used in that it set these two factions apart as though they were utterly different. People are humans, no matter what they look like or how they useful they are to a society. While divisions of this sort may seem inevitable, I feel as though they should be overcome in order to strive for the bigger picture.
Later in the same section, there was a part where the author mentioned overhearing people say that a baby with a certain disease should have gotten "caught." Then, the author made a distinction between wanted and unwanted offspring, and the terms "baby" and "fetus." This was especially interesting because of the way people can use certain terms, specifically scientific ones, in order to distance themselves from the reality of the situation--that the "fetus" has the potential to become a human being. This turns into a more abstract concept when the author brings up the idea of "non-humanness." I think that if people were a bit more empathetic about this idea, the issue might be less controversial for both sides. But then again, there is a tension between feminists who identify as both disability activists and pro-choice, like the author mentioned, which I thought was a very complicated stance to take. Ideally, it would be great if such things could be looked at through a case-by-case basis according to each individual.

1 comment:

Mary said...

I agree with you that it would be great if cases concerning abortion, especially selective abortions, could be viewed on an individual basis. One of the most disturbing aspects of the selective abortion process is how woman were pressured and coerced to abort their babies that were shown to have disabilities. Again, I reiterate that I believe abortion is a very personal topic and everyone should be allowed to have and voice their opinions, but in the end it is an individual choice that is influenced by a multitude of factors. However one of these factors should not society's prejudice against a certain group of people, but sadly often times this is one of the deciding factors. This idea ties into the articles that we have read on the sterilization of "undesirables" in the United States and the eugenics movement. However, I feel that to deal with this issue attitudes towards disabled people and other marginalized groups of society need to changed. The availability of abortions is not want needs to change it is the attitude of doctors and society at large who pressures people to abort "undesirable" fetuses.