Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Hypocrisy

I stumbled upon a blog yesterday written by an OB. In one post she defended the escalating c-section rate in the United States (currently over 30% of births,) arguing that many countries with high c-section rates also have low infant and maternal mortality rates. She acknowledges that many c-sections are performed in which the baby could have born vaginally without problem, but considers these justified by the few infant lives that are saved. By the way, I'm not really arguing with that premise, nor am I anti c-section; I recognize that this procedure does save lives and I may need one myself some day. I do think our c-section rates are unnecessarily high for a number of reasons, but that is not what this post is about.
What shocked me was that, after reading this post about how critical it is to use every intervention possible to save a few infant lives, I came across a post on the same blog in which this same OB justifies the elective abortion of children with Down's syndrome because of the burden they pose to their families and to society.
In other words, we should use every possible technology and intervention that might possibly save the lives of a few babies, unless of course the babies are genetically sub-par in which case we are better off killing them outright.
I'm sorry Dr., I really don't follow your reasoning.

2 comments:

Amber said...

Oooh, that post would have worked me up in a tizzy for sure! Grrr. How anyone can even think about doing something mean to a baby, in the womb or out, is beyond me.

maryanne said...

Any baby is a blessing, and it makes me so sad that everyone can't see that. Not to mention that she is ignoring the fact that Down Syndrome babies come with their own gifts as well as handicaps.