Quote:
Originally Posted by TorqueDog
I can honestly say - with total confidence - that if I found out my unborn child had a severe defect that would negatively affect his/her life, I would be fully in favour of aborting and trying for another, should the mother agree with me.
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I think you're being a little cavalier with the wording, and that's where people are getting worrisome visions of the slippery slope. What is "severe?"
Let me post this hypothetical to you: what if, during the same genetic test, they find that your baby will be born with a mutation that gives him a 50/50 chance to drop dead by the age of 30, most likely due to a heart defect triggered by physical exertion? Note that the Down's child would likely outlive this child, though not by much.
What if they have a very high chance of susceptibility to Lou Gehrig's disease, but the age of onset is unknown? What if they have an almost sure-fire chance of getting childhood leukemia?