Sunday, November 22, 2020

Ethical Concerns: Catching disabilities & teratogenic virus effects in utero

 The Atlantic recently published an article that talked about how Down Syndrome is one of the least severe and first conditions screened for, in utero. Within Denmark, there exists a universal Down syndrome screening available for nearly all families. Amongst those families, nearly all (95%) who get a positive test for Down Syndrome for their unborn child, choose to abort. Within Western Europe (and some parts of the US), a similar pattern can be see. In Denmark, (2019), only 18 children with Down Syndrome were born in the entire country - a stark contrast to the 6,000 children born with down syndrome in the US, each year. This article raised questions for me, about viruses that could cause teratogenic effects to children in utero. A number of viruses (ranging from Zika Virus, Mumps, Hepatitis, Varicella-Zoster Virus), and could leave some mentally or physically disabled. Cases of viruses causing teratogenic effects are somewhat rare, though, a limited amount of treatments can be done, if caught too late.

Ethical questions are endless, about whether aborting a child with disability is morally right and what it says about people and how they think of disabled people. Is the power to "decide what kind of life is worth bringing into the world" too much for people to handle? Some argue that we could be missing a part of our "humanity", if we didn't have people with special needs/vulnerabilities. In the case of those with virus infections in utero, is there something to be learned about these individuals? 

- Justin

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/12/the-last-children-of-down-syndrome/616928/?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=0f07ed1d9f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_19_03_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-0f07ed1d9f-2870277

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC413802/pdf/bactrev00040-0027.pdf

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