Poll: Would you abort a pregnancy if the child would have Down Syndrome?

[RatRace123]

Yes, if I was able I'd gladly keep my child from going through that life. Truthfully, though it sounds evil, I wouldn't want to go through that either.

And, really honestly (racking up the evil points here) I really don't think I could love it as much as a normal child.

 

[DiabolicalCactus]

Yes. If I had to choose, it would be yes. I can't let someone suffer like that. I don't care if you think I'm horrible. I'd think I were horrible if I didn't do something.

thoughts and feelings the same as anybody else

See, even though I disagree with this, it's a reason why I would still say 'yes'.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Yes. Abstract respect for life is stupid.

How abstract are we talking here?

 

[Audio]

Yes.
My youngest brother has Autism. He's a 26 year old with the mind of a 2year old and he is as big as an ox!
I see the struggle and stress my mum goes through just to stop him doing things; I do not want that life.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'm going to go ahead and guess this is fairly well split between those who have close connections to someone with Down's syndrome, and those who have kids of any kind, and then there's the other side, people who haven't had children and don't know what it's like to live with something with Down's syndrome.

It has to be said, it'd be a very pointless forum if we all just said 'no, never' for fear of offending however, and I think it's important to come out and say what might be unpopular, and also to listen to the other side, if they feel we don't know all the facts.

 

[boyvirgo666]

(Huge Sarcasm)
Yes, of course, especially if it didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes. It wouldn't fit in our perfect Nazi society. And, hey, after we murder the baby, then we can go to a book burning.

i have a mild distaste for gypsies too. while were book burning we should go after them in the name of der furer/sarcasm

 

[Kingsman]

Yes.

Hope for better luck on the next one. Repeat as necessary.

Seriously, though, it wouldn't be a problem if the kid was disabled in some other way. This case, though? It's his BRAIN. Everything that lets him reason and be human is going to be inherently fogged-up. It's like watching someone live without a soul. I couldn't stand for that, I couldn't.

 

[asam92]

I'm mildly disgusted at the number of people who are saying yes. My uncle has down syndrome and while he may not perceive things like we do he still has thoughts and emotions. When my grandparents had to send him to a home because they were no longer able to take care of him I remember that a few days later he was crying because he missed them. He's still human. He's still capable of being happy or sad or angry, and even if he can't express himself he still loves his parents and his sister, and they love him. I desperately hope the people here just don't understand what they're talking about or else I fear for the human race.

I totally agree with you on that one

OT: Ask this to a person who has decided to keep their Down Syndrome Son/Daughter and see how bad you feel when they have a go at you, and also ask them if they have any regrets keeping them.
If I were you I would be ashamed of myself even asking this question

 

[Sejs Cube]

I find myself somewhat disappointed in all of the "you people disgust me" responses coming from the No, Don't side of the discussion. A lot of you are presenting yourselves as adults, I'm sure you can have a conversation like one.

Some of the people who don't share your opinion have every bit as much experience with developmentally disabled people as you do.

 

[Your once and future Fanboy]

Yes , no question about it.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Yes, I wouldn't want a child of mine to have to live through that.

(Huge Sarcasm)
Yes, of course, especially if it didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes. It wouldn't fit in our perfect Nazi society. And, hey, after we murder the baby, then we can go to a book burning.

Godwin's Law.

 

[vanillabeans320]

No. It's my kid and I don't think I could ever kill it unless something serious (like, pregnancy is killing my wife, knock on wood) happened. If you abort because you think the kid needs to be put out of his future-misery I think that's probably wrong (as in incorrect). Down syndrome kids can be happy, functional, sociable and in many cases largely independent. Like in most abortion cases, I also point to adoption. Also, where's the cutoff in terms of terminating due to mental ability? Surely there are a lot of conditions that render a child able between 'mentally handicapped' and 'average'.

 

[Karathos]

ITT: People pulling the guilt-card, the nazi-card and the you-make-me-sick-superguilt-card when they can't accept other people's opinions. Seriously, when I read most of the against-comments it just makes me laugh. Best one so far was "It's your fault - deal with it". If it's someone elses fault, who are you to tell them they can't abort? It's ridiculous. I'm not looking to start a flamewar here, but it sure seems like the against-side are doing their best to guilt people after they give an honest comment.

On to my opinion: It's obviously up to the woman in the long run, but considering I don't want children to begin with I'd hope for an abortion regardless of birth defects. Finnish law makes it impossible for a father to cut himself off from a child, so either abortion or I'd have to move abroad... But I'm sidetracking here.

 

[Aedrial]

Depends how I strongly I felt about it at the time. Right now, I'd say yes, because I don't think I'd be able to put the child through that.

 

[Klopy]

This is a tough topic. I'm on the fence with this. Personally, if I look at it like society as a whole or something of the like, the child wouldn't be able to really give back and improve life. S/he would only be absorbing resources for the duration of his/her life. Back in the past, these children wouldn't have been able to survive due to natural selection. They wouldn't have learned fast enough and would have fallen behind.

But that is the past, and we have come a long way from that, eh? Looking at the topic as an individual and a human, the child is still innocent and wouldn't deserve to be barred entry to life. Someone like this child could bring a family together through the hardships of raising him/her and turn out better as a result.

Now... for my answer? Its a mix. Life is still life, even if no significant gain is in the future. Some people grow up to be drug addicts and drop-out-give-uppers. They go no where in life, and only consume resources, just like the kid. In fact, those people usually cause more damage than this child could even understand. And because s/he would be more positive and be happy with a (hopefully) better family, the child would be better than the failures.


TLR= Depends on what my spouse also decides. There's too many arguments on both sides. Obviously if my wife wanted an abortion, I wouldn't be there trying to change her mind. Its her fetus, anyway. Once the baby is born, I'll start arguing.

EDIT: Hah. Reading a lot of these posts keep changing me one way or another. These are pretty good arguments. I'm glad I wrote this down before I started reading other people's opinions.

 

[NotSoNimble]

The real question should be:

Would you allow a pregnancy to continue if you aren't stable enough monetarily to support it?

More kids now a days have children with absolutely no way to support them, then they depend on governmental support instead of taking responsibility as an adult.

Just cause you can make a girl pregnant, doesn't make you a responsible human.

If you know you are bringing a special needs child into the world, and you can't support it on your own...... then shame on you. You are a disgrace to the human race. I vote for severe penalties on your freedom for being such a child that shows limited or no common sense.

 

[Slick Samurai]

Well, if I knew that the clump of cells growing was going to be defective when it grew into a full fetus and eventually a baby, I would abort it. I don't understand the "morality" of this argument because I don't understand why it is considered already a mentally challenged child. You bought a faulty engine for a car you're building, you don't continue to build the car, you restart and get a new engine. Don't consider the faulty engine a faulty car.

 

[Karathos]

Yes, I wouldn't want a child of mine to have to live through that.

(Huge Sarcasm)
Yes, of course, especially if it didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes. It wouldn't fit in our perfect Nazi society. And, hey, after we murder the baby, then we can go to a book burning.

Godwin's Law.

Not sure if it's Godwin's Law if it's an appropriate comparison. Frankly there are a lot of people in this subject saying that they don't think of disabled people as people. I believe the Nazi's term for people they euthanised for this was 'life unworthy of life' and frankly that's what I'm seeing a lot of in this topic.

That doesn't make Godwin's Law apply any less. The nazi-card was pulled, plain and simple. People expressed opinions, and other people countered those opinions by trying to apply the typical guilt-by-association and you-monster-regular-guilt techniques.

 

[HentMas]

Depends
are the disabilities of the child going to prevent him from experiencing the world the way we do??

down syndrome means the kid will be "stupid" (sorry for the bluntness but it is necesary to make a point) does that mean you would kill every kid with an IQ lower than 100??

if the kid is not disabled, meaning, he is able to eat, move and experience the world in his oun why would you kill him??

OH RIGHT!! ITS A BURDEN!! TROUBLE!! YOU WOULD HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF SOMETHING OTHER THAN YOURSELVE

yes, because i know that everyone in here would rather kill your problems than overcome them

and of course, a fetus is not alive why would it be wrong to kill it for our selfish way of thinking?? lets destroy a life instead of growing up and taking care of it!

the audience in here is wrong, people who would rather live their selfish little lives instead of really thinking about being responsible human beings and accepting that they need to mature for something other than themselves.

fear makes us do a bunch of things, but come on, i never thought people would fail to see they are saying they would rather do a "Nazi" policy over being troubled with the care of a less smart kid COME ON!