Perfect babies?

ABORTION SOARS IN QUEST FOR PERFECT BABIES
Daily Mail
Sun May 6, 2004 23:30:03 ET

Those with conditions that can usually be corrected medically - such as deformed feet and cleft lips and palates - are instead being terminated.

And the number of abortions of Down's syndrome babies now outstrips live births, despite the fact that those with the condition can live a long and fulfilling life. As screening techniques improve, the trend is likely to grow - horrifying pro-life campaigners.

'These figures are symptomatic of a eugenic trend of the consumerist society hell-bent on obliterating deformity - and at what cost to its own humanity? ' said ethicist Jacqueline Laing, of London Metropolitan University. 'We are obliterating the willingness of people to accept disability. Babies are required to fit a description of normality before they are allowed to be born.'

The figures for 2002 - the latest available - from the Office for National Statistics show more women than ever are choosing to terminate babies with potential handicaps, with such abortions rising 8 per cent in a year.

It has renewed fears that strict laws on termination due to disabilities are being flouted by doctors.

The 2002 figures show five babies were aborted because they had deformed feet, and a sixth because of a cleft lip and palate.


http://www.drudgereport.com/flash4.htm

Oh the quest for the perfect race contiues, :rolleyes:

We should be sorely ashamed for what we are doing to the innocent ones. I have had the pleasure of knowing many families that had specially abled little ones and granted they had some special needs, however, the families were so in love with them and like wise the same.
To my knowledge every family felt that that child was the greatest blessing they could have and not one of them regreted the birth.

Additonally how many great minds and musicians etc., would we never have had if they were aborted?

Off the soap box for now....

GATTACA is slowly coming .....

do a google search on gattaca movie if you wanna know what im talking about ...

This thread just makes me sick. Can't ignore murder though.

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The 2002 figures show five babies were aborted because they had deformed feet, and a sixth because of a cleft lip and palate.

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If this was the true reason those five were aborted (which I find hard to believe), then the mothers weren't fit to parent them anyways. Just so sad.

Hmmm, perhaps the natural course of intelligent life is controling it's ability to choose and perfect it's DNA. If left to natural tendancies, that would be the case. Emotionalism aside, the road to our future could be paved with controlling and eliminating defects in the species.

Sounds cold doesn't it? But I believe that to be true.

Hard to separate the emotion, when that could have been me that was aborted. But I do fully support conquering defects. However not at the cost of lives. We may have already killed the children that would have solved many of our current health, environmental, peace, issues, etc.

As a discussion: Then how does species eliminate defects? Is it possible? What would be worse, knowing a child will never achieve the ability to sustain himself or reach an understanding beyond a 2 year old, or eliminating him or her before reaching consiousness?

:)

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Hard to separate the emotion, when that could have been me that was aborted.

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Aren't you kinda putting the cart in front of the horse here?

I agree with Road Closed. It doesn't mean that those parents that wish to give birth to babies with defects shouldn't be able to do so, but those that do not, should have the right
to their decision. It's their offspring.
So what about all those doctors that have performed surgery to repair cleft lips or other abnormalities? Somewhere in that endeavour, must lie the desire to fix a problem. Well, with that comes research, gene research, whatever research, aimed at eliminating desease and
suffering. But to nip the problem in the bud....gee, who would have thought of that.

Hey, I should know, look at me...

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Then how does species eliminate defects?

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Ask Hitler.

If you ask me, you build up the weaker links so their offspring has a lesser chance of carrying the same attributes. We are already shedding off poor genes, those born with severe cerebal palsy are able to walk with intense therapy. I would link the institute if they had a site, but I saw a news feature on a place in Russia I think that had outstanding results with cerebral palsy therapy.

You give women a right to kill, suddenly you have a culture in support of decimation. If you want to support human evolution, then support stem cell research.

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then support stem cell research.

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uhmmm wait a sec...

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So what about all those doctors that have performed surgery to repair cleft lips or other abnormalities? Somewhere in that endeavour, must lie the desire to fix a problem

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As said you fix the problem. I am not against abortion in the cases of extreme handicaps but I do think that having an abortion for a foot defect is going too far. Where do you stop. His eyes aren't blue oh well lets put a bullet in his head and try again.

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Hmmm, perhaps the natural course of intelligent life is controling it's ability to choose and perfect it's DNA. If left to natural tendancies, that would be the case. Emotionalism aside, the road to our future could be paved with controlling and eliminating defects in the species.

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While I belive we will eventually be able to control and eliminate many defects it will more than likely be through medicine rather than abortion.

Genocide in the Womb, tonight on 60 Minutes.

Ask Hitler,

I am not talking about cosmetics or desired muscle tone. I am talking about severe defects that will not let a human reach any kind of potential in it's long life. Who is to say you aren't forcing them to live in their own internal hell for 60 years. And only as a disussion.

It's one of those topics that don't have a correct moral answer unless you are religious.

Atheist- It's wrong to kill, it's wrong to allow pain and suffering. (no moral answer)

Variable Religion- It's wrong to kill, it's right to allow the birth of a lifetime of pain and suffering because it was planned for the individual by a higher power.

What do I believe in?
I believe that everyone should be given the chance to accept the challenge of life. The "It's my body" argument is false, because it's NOT the mothers body. It's another life.

This is a complicated topic... it will go into "Where does life begin?" and such. Should be interesting if it continues.

Thank you Soda_Popinski,

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it's NOT the mothers body

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I don't believe a more truer statement could be made. It does not mean that I am insensitive toward those women that may have been assaulted etc. We just need to stop and think about what we are doing. We are taking a life. I wonder what the little baby within the mother would say, if it could talk. Of all the things it might say, I would really doubt that "sure suck me through a vacuum cleaner and crush my head", would be one of them.

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Then how does species eliminate defects?

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Isn't man on top of the food chain, more mentally inept, and not a species per se? We don't have to kill the weaker to ensure species will survive.

It would be interesting to find out how many defects are serious and how many are not.