Saturday, May 16, 2009

Should genetic tests be created to identify autism in the womb?

Sorry that I have neglected this blog for so long! I've been really busy, but hope to update more soon.

In the meantime, I wanted to let you all know that the blog at autism.about.com has a new poll on the question, "Should genetic tests be created to identify autism in the womb?"

You can select more than one answer, so I selected both "No, because such a test implies that it's okay to abort an autistic fetus." and "No, because there's no good way to determine the baby's functional level."

I find this idea very scary, because I think that a lot of people would abort if such a test were to come back positive. Sad. But, go vote however you want!

http://autism.about.com/b/2009/05/14/should-a-genetic-test-be-developed-to-identify-autism-in-the-womb.htm

Have a great day!

AspieMama

4 comments:

kathleen said...

That was thought provoking-I do believe you are correct in saying that a lot of people would abort..especially because of the way autism seems to be portrayed in the mass media...sad.

Jared Thomas, D.C. said...

We have 4 kids and 1 on the way and have refused even the preliminary testing and would never do the amniocentesis because we believe abortion under most circumstances is murder. Life would be so dull without our oldest who is Aspie. Who else can come up with things like they think of?

AspieMama said...

Kathleen, that's one of the things I hope to accomplish with this blog...overcoming the negative media stereotype. I agree that's a big problem, and I'm sure, as you suggested, that it would probably contribute to an increase in abortions of autistic children.

Jared, there is never a dull moment with an Aspie is there? :) I did not have amniocentesis either because it didn't matter to me what it would have shown.

Thanks both of you for your comments!

A better future for all said...

Personally, I am pro-life except under certain circumstances.