Senators join in effort to reduce abortions tied to Down syndrome

[babylonsister]

Senators join in effort to reduce abortions tied to Down syndrome
By Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Monday, March 10, 2008



WASHINGTON — Susan May considered terminating her pregnancy when tests confirmed that the 5-month-old fetus she was carrying would become a child with Down syndrome.

The Wichita, Kan., woman was scared and unhappy with the way that doctors delivered the news, stressing the negative. But she's happy that she didn't have an abortion. She said that raising her son, Wyatt, who's now an energetic 5-year-old, had been a very fulfilling experience. And she said it was sad that the vast majority of women decided to abort when they were faced with the prospect of raising children with disabilities.

"A lot of families are missing out on the experience of raising a wonderful child that they'll never know," May said.

It's not only sad but wrong, says Sen. Sam Brownback, who wants to do something about it. In an unusual bipartisan alliance, the Kansas Republican has teamed up with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts on a bill that aims to reduce the number of abortions that are tied to genetic disorders.

The bill would create a national registry of families who are willing to adopt children with pre- or post-natally diagnosed conditions. In addition, families that receive diagnoses of Down syndrome or other genetic conditions would be referred to support services, including a national clearinghouse that would give them information on coping.

"We're just saying instead of killing the children, let them live," Brownback said in an interview.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/29762.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Adopt them, Sam!

Adopt them.

Otherwise, STFU.

[bluestateguy]

2. Universal health care would reduce abortions

With the health care costs of raising a child with Down's Syndrome, we should not be surprised that many mothers would choose abortion. If health care was guaranteed, abortions would drop.

[Yavin4]

43. Please Stop Using Logic and Common Sense

We are an emotionally immature, over-reactive, knee-jerk reaction nation, instant-gratification nation. Thank you.

[Ordr]

3. This is a tough one.

I'm not sure where I stand on this.

[yardwork]

5. I know where I stand - universal health care and social services for families.

Providing excellent medical and mental health care is ethically a win-win.

[Ordr]

7. "Providing excellent medical and mental health care is ethically a win-win."

If our country can afford to do it then I'm 100% for it.

[Donnachaidh]

13. let's start with the 12 BILLION a month we spend in IRAQ

I know a very slight portion of that would cover my family's needs. For the rest of our lives, actually.

[Ordr]

16. Is it really up to $12B now?

Fucking hell.
What were we doing with all that money before the war?

[Donnachaidh]

17. that was the figure I read early this AM

yeah -- we were still pouring lots of it into the Military Industrial Complex. Just not so fast.

[Tesha]

22. Not borrowing it. (NT)

[yardwork]

24. It's highly cost effective. A dollar spent on prevention saves tens of dollars.

Right now, we have the most expensive and one of the least effective health care systems in the world. Covering everyone would save us billions of dollars in recovered productivity and lives.

[yardwork]

4. Maybe Brownback would like to lead the way with national health care?

Maybe Brownback would like to fund some "liberal" programs that provide real support to families?

[xchrom]

6. do women own their bodies yet? nt

[joeybee12]

8. No, but Sam Brownback lets them take them for a test drive...

...now and again.

[xchrom]

11. .....

:spray: indeed.

[Donnachaidh]

15. I'm entirely stunned that Ted Kennedy is part of this!

I guess we're really just following along, carrying a slop bucket, and stopping every once in awhile to be of *service* to men.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :wow: :grr: :banghead: :rant:

[harun]

18. As usual Ted Kennedy is taking the morally correct position (n/t)

[Donnachaidh]

28. "morally correct" position?

Only to people who have their genitals swinging between their legs. :grr:

[karynnj]

32. As a woman, I think this is a morally correct position.

[Donnachaidh]

34. your morals don't apply to everyone else

And even attempting to do so is heinous.

[karynnj]

40. the same goes to you - you have angry comment after angry comment

that says - in essence that this is evil. (enough that you are putting Kennedy on your permanent bad list.)

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

35. Just a thought

if one was going to have this kids *before* they found out it had downs syndrome and only *after* finding out it is disabled they decided to abort they are not making the decision for *their bodies*, they are making based on the kids body.

What about blindness? hair color?

[harun]

41. A good thought

I would rather that option not be available to people. Doctors can make mistakes, tests can get mixed up and people can get intimidated by doctors in to doing things they don't have all the facts about.

[harun]

42. Wow, you really hate men (n/t)

[xchrom]

20. oh the whole thing makes me furious.

as much as i support roe v wade on the one hand -- without the ERA -- this is what things will constantly be reduced to.

i.e. others get to have an opinion about a womans private parts.

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. Why is encouraging adoption such an awful thing?

:shrug:

[Donnachaidh]

25. because they are taking a sideways stab at women's right to CHOOSE

And I SERIOUSLY doubt the adoption rate will go UP if children with genetic disorders are added to the mix. When potential adoptive parents get a real bird's eye view of the COSTS, both emotionally and in the wallet -- it will probably go DOWN.

Universal health care can do so much more for these kids.

[Freddie Stubbs]

38. How does encourageing adoption take a "sideways stab at women's right to CHOOSE?"

Is abortion the only acceptable choice a woman can make?

[karynnj]

31. What is your problem - the bill attempts to create another viable alternative

No one is saying that you can't have an abortion - this is just helping people who don't want an abortion, but know they can't (or don't want) to raise a Down's syndrome child.

I think every Senator should vote for this.

[riderinthestorm]

9. Yes, ensure they live without any safety net for families providing for them.

People with family members who are mild-to-severely disabled face enormous stress trying to figure out how to care for their children who will (in many cases) now outlive them. Without adequate social services and health care, their concerns are very real.

Some of the stories of people having to sever parental rights in order to get their children into state supported care because we don't have the social services and health care services safety nets that allow families to stay together, and then those same children are placed hundreds of miles away from them are simply heartbreaking.

I don't have any answers but it seems that one of the surest ways of guaranteeing that families wouldn't abort the potentially disabled is to make sure there are adequate resources to support that person for life.

[mrcheerful]

10. Why? So wing nuts have another group of citizens they

can blame for all of the puke failures and they can legally discriminate against. No I am not in favor of aborting children because of handi caps or birth defects. But lets face facts, wing nuts see all dis-abled people as a burden on society. It also gives their wing nut kids targets for their bully in the school yard games, after all wing nuts teach their kids to hate anyone not like them. Just another example of wing nut hypocrisy.

[Donnachaidh]

12. WTF is wrong with these MEN?

Ted dear, you just went on my permanent shit list. Take your registry and shove it up that bovine behind of yours.

And yes, I'm the mother of a kid with horrendously costly medical bills due to a genetic disorder. How about giving us UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE -- so we can raise our own kids? Huh?

[karynnj]

33. Kennedy has worked on health insurance since the 1960s - he doesn't deserve this

[CatsDogsBabies]

14. advanced age pregnancies

I had my first pregnancy at an advanced age - in my 40s. I refused screening (except for ultrasounds) for chromosomal abnormalities, and gave birth to a healthy and robust child. But, for some women who are older there is a lot of pressure to follow a set of screening procedures and if something is wrong to meet with a genetics counselor. I think in many cases the presumption is that the woman will terminate the pregnancy after meeting with the counselor. Being ushered through a set of procedures where the choice is already presumed is not about women owning their own bodies. Women should really have a choice and not feel pressured into terminating. I know of some older mothers who have had a hard time finding doctors who respect their choice not to terminate. I am in favor of a women's right to choose but there should be a real choice there. Fortunately, when I told my drs what I wanted, all they made me do was sign a paper (releasing them from responsibility in the event that I gave birth to a disbled child), and they never brought up the subject age related screening again.

[electron_blue]

19. Screening is not always done for termination decisions

I had a lot of screening done due to my advanced age as a first time mother, and having had 3 miscarriages before that. I resent the implication that I was considering termination bcs I had it. It is not an all or nothing situation. Please at least acknowledge that some screening will help produce a healthy baby in the end.

I have 2 friends whose babies lived only because they discovered there would be big problems down the road. One had to have regular in-utero blood transfusions, and the other one had the baby weeks early so the baby's diaphragm could be operated on. In both cases they knew this at the 15-18 week mark after amnio. If they had refused screening they would have not known of either problems and both babies would have likely died.

I really hate it when people perpetuate the idea that screening = termination. I can't tell you how many women have told me how they didn't have screening bcs they would have kept their baby no matter what. Yeah, until you lose a baby. Then you might consider screening the next one so you might be able to save it. Not all medical procedures are bad.

[DemBones DemBones]

26. She didn't say it was, and your situation was quite different.

I don't think anyone presumes a woman is considering abortion because she has prenatal screening. Most have it done simply because their doctors tell them to, some have good reason to want it, as you did. Some have it done even though they would never abort because they want to be prepared if there is a problem with the baby.

But there is an assumption among many OBs that women will abort babies that have any problems and it is what many suggest, rather than presenting different options for the mother to consider.

Women should have the right to refuse amniocentesis, because there is an increased risk of miscarriage after it's done. Patients actually do have the right to refuse any medical procedure, though doctors and nurses don't always act like we do.

Someone I know was having a third child after 40 and she and her husband told her OB that they had discussed it since her previous appointment and decided that since they would not consider abortion in any case, they were not going to have the amnio done. The doctor told them, quite angrily, that they'd have to find another OB, and stormed out of the room. They were shocked at his behavior but found another OB who accepted their decision not to have amnio, and the baby was perfectly healthy.

Another woman I know was having her second child in her late thirties and was told the baby probably had Down syndrome. Her father is a doctor and told her to insist on another test, as did another family member who's a doctor. I don't know why she didn't get another test right away but two months later, another test showed the baby was normal, and that test was accurate. Those two months were agonizing for her whole family, though her father continued to say the test was wrong, so screening can cause a family terrible emotional stress, or it can be a relief, depending on the results.

[Donnachaidh]

30. no offense, but I know of one case where the screening results were withheld

by the clinic doing them because they were trying to keep the parent from having her right to decide to terminate. Of course, she learned this AFTER the legal date for termination was reached. Screening clinics can also play politics with women's lives.

All of this bullshit would be MOOT with UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

[ensho]

23. I would have chosen abortion

pregnancy is a life threatening event so I'd rather attempt it with a fetus with no known faults.

and raising a child for 18 yrs. is hard enough when they have no problems.

[yardwork]

27. That is your legal choice. Let's keep that choice legal.

Let's make sure that people who choose not to abort have the resources needed to raise their children.

[DemBones DemBones]

29. That would make sense, wouldn't it? nt

[Evoman]

36. How about a bill that proposes that only women can have any say about anything abortion-related.

And include a roe vs wade type ammendment into the constitution.

PRO CHOICE.

[ensho]

37. YES I'd vote for that any day.

nt

[noonwitch]

39. Keep the choice legal, but offer support to people who want to raise the babies

I wouldn't abort a child because he or she had Down's Syndrome. Other women can make their own choice.

But if a woman doesn't really want to have an abortion, but isn't sure she would be able to raise a child with Downs, she should talk it with lots of different people before going through with an abortion-I'm not saying that should be the law, but an abortion provider should do the appropriate pre-procedure counseling and have a list of agencies or people who can show her all the programs that are available to help raise a special needs child.

Long before states started requiring the whole waiting period and other limits that the antiabortion groups pushed for, the abortion providers (or at least PP) always provided pre and post counseling. They wouldn't give a woman an abortion unless she participated. This included screening to ensure that she was absolutely sure she wanted to have an abortion.