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.
Bitter_Astronomer139 at 2024-03-13 18:26:14+00:00 ID:
kutgqg5I have grown up with someone how has downs. He is my cousin, we lived next door to each other and we are the same age (turning 24), we are basically brothers. His mother actually did get the test and got a negative reading. Let me tell you, the live of someone with down syndrome is not good. While I got to have sleep overs, go to school, have girlfriends, ride motorcycle, go party all night, fly airplanes, move out, see the world and just experience live. He got to have a heart operation at age 3, still being afraid of the dark at 23, not being able to eat dairy, wheat, sugar, eggs, he can not read or write and speak properly. His mental capacity is that of a 6 year old child. He has almost no self regulation. Overeating is a big problem. He has trouble keeping his anger and frustration in check. He spends about one hour a day crying on the toilet because his gut biom is basically non existent. And A lot of other health implications. He grew up in a loving family with the right mindset for a person like him. His parents are doing a fantastic job taking care of him but it's such a big part of day to day life. I also think it put a big mental strain on his big sister aswell. I love him, we are best buddy's. But I often think about how different life would be if he didn't have this illness or if the test was reading correctly. This illness has such a tight grip on everyone close by. I think it's a good thing that these tests exist. They give you a choice.