thumbelina
11-19-2007, 11:38 PM
We need a prenatal screening process without a bias toward abortion (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502031.html?referrer=emailarticle).
All across the land this fall, people have been gathering to promote awareness and acceptance of Down syndrome. Central to their message is the idea that people with the condition are valued family members who lead happy, fulfilling lives.
At the National Institutes of Health (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/National+Institutes+of+Health?tid=informline) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Centers+for+Disease+Control+and+Prevention?tid=inf ormline), scientists have been meeting to develop research agendas to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome, the genetic condition that results when a person has three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of the usual pair.
But in the places where medicine is practiced, a very different and less benevolent awareness of Down syndrome reigns. As a result of recent changes in technology and standards of care, women are undergoing prenatal diagnostics for Down syndrome in unprecedented numbers -- often multiple times during their pregnancies. When the condition is detected, they are having abortions at rates that are thought to approach 90 percent.
All across the land this fall, people have been gathering to promote awareness and acceptance of Down syndrome. Central to their message is the idea that people with the condition are valued family members who lead happy, fulfilling lives.
At the National Institutes of Health (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/National+Institutes+of+Health?tid=informline) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Centers+for+Disease+Control+and+Prevention?tid=inf ormline), scientists have been meeting to develop research agendas to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome, the genetic condition that results when a person has three copies of the 21st chromosome instead of the usual pair.
But in the places where medicine is practiced, a very different and less benevolent awareness of Down syndrome reigns. As a result of recent changes in technology and standards of care, women are undergoing prenatal diagnostics for Down syndrome in unprecedented numbers -- often multiple times during their pregnancies. When the condition is detected, they are having abortions at rates that are thought to approach 90 percent.