I'm an American but studied abroad in Denmark for around 6 months. When I was there, I found out that the Nordic countries have virtually eradicated down syndrome by testing pregnant people for it. 99% choose to abort. How do you guys feel about this?
Personally this is quite disturbing to me. I've known people with down syndrome who live happy, quality lives. Even if it is up to the mother whether or not to abort, when it happens 99% of the time, is it not cultural eugenics? It seems the culture is almost afraid of taking care of a child with down syndrome. Especially in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, where the resources to take care of them are more widely available. If you could test for other things like autism, or even something like extreme depression, would yall do the same thing?
EDIT: I am strongly pro choice and I have talked to many American people on both sides of the political spectrum about this and they unanimously agree with me. On an individual level, I support everyones right to make their own decisions, but when it gets to the population level it becomes more of a cultural issue. There seems to be a cultural agreement that children with down syndrome are too difficult to care for. Does that make it ok to eradicate them? I honestly don't know
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The original was posted on /r/denmark by /u/queen_bs at 2024-03-13 15:12:18+00:00.
queen_bs (OP) at 2024-03-13 15:57:51+00:00 ID:
kuoym7fI don't really see this as religious, i'm looking at it from the perspective of whether eugenics can be morally right. Based on these comments, it seems like Danish people in general think that it is morally ok
Swimming_Bed1475 at 2024-03-13 16:15:34+00:00 ID:
kup1sukas Downs' Syndrome is not inheritable (only a small genetic factor), the word "eugenics" seems a little misplaced. It is not a decision made for the sake of "improving the gene pool" or the population demographics, or the "good of the nation". It is an individual decision made by the family for the sake of the family.
Should the family choose to make a different decision, the Danish society actually provides a lot of help and resources. So it's not like it's discouraged structurally/politically.
SearchOk4107 at 2024-03-13 17:32:21+00:00 ID:
kupg0l3Why would this be less morally ok than an abortion itself? If one is allowed to have an abortion and chooses to abort a fetus without downs syndrome, why is it any different if the person aborts a fetus with?
nameless_sandal at 2024-03-13 15:59:38+00:00 ID:
kuoyxtoYes, we believe a right to an abortion is morally okay. We give women and their partners a right to decide what to do with their bodies.