Antenatal testing for disabilities has attracted considerable controversy over the years for its association with eugenic practices. There is growing discontent amongst disability and human rights organisations that by screening pregnancies, for the purpose of terminating babies with certain conditions, there is an irrefutable presumption that those individuals who possess such a condition are less worthy of and unentitled to the right to life. The notion of eliminating a category of disability through selective terminations is worryingly reminiscent of the ‘vile psuedo-science of eugenics‘ which was prevalent a century ago, advocated by Margaret Sanger and Marie Stopes amongst others.
Deborah Dooley and her 20-year old daughter Flo, who has Cystic Fibrosis, have articulated their concerns about the procedure in an article published today. When Deborah opted out of ante-natal testing whilst pregnant for Flo, she recalls having to explain to the hospital consultant that “it wasn’t the test I was afraid of, but the implications of the result. If it was positive, I would immediately be offered a termination.”
Flo, who acknowledges that her mother may have opted for a termination had she undergone the procedure, adds “the idea that antenatal testing is simply one of the wonderful advances of modern medicine makes me really uncomfortable. And I find the attitude that there’s no need for anyone to have babies who are less than 100 per cent perfect physically and mentally very simplistic and strange.”
Recent history has demonstrated that the premise of eradicating so-called ‘undesirable’ traits, in this case through preemptive abortions, is damaging to egalitarian principles of human rights and sets a dangerous precedent about the value of diversity in society. As Flo remarks finally “I don’t think that being labelled as not quite right, or disabled – or whatever – before you’re even born should mean that you have no right to life. In my opinion, the world needs… less-than-perfect people, those people can live full and happy lives – I believe I’m living proof of that.”
Read more about the Dooleys’ story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1234638/My-daughter-born-cystic-fibrosis-neighbour-said-I-killed-womb—YOU-think.html
Read more about the history of eugenics: http://www.spectator.co.uk/spectator/thisweek/5571423/how-eugenics-poisoned-the-welfare-state.thtml
