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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses the debate revolving around the abortion of fetus's determined to be mentally retarded. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_MBmedeth.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and human rights arguments. What remains when one cuts to the bottom line, however, is that for the person who is faced with a medical dilemma involving the potential of
giving birth to a severely retarded child, the argument takes on mammoth proportions. Genetic testing is generally performed on a pregnant woman especially if she is determined to be at
risk for delivering a child with a chromosomal abnormality or inherited genetic condition. Prenatal testing is often used to look for conditions such as Down syndrome, spina bifida, cystic fibrosis,
Tay-Sachs disease and others that would show up in early childhood(Freedman 2001). Families who learn that their developing baby is affected with a
certain condition must choose between terminating the pregnancy or having the baby and learning as much as they can about how to manage the condition. In addition, there are reports
of many cases where the child was determined to have great odds of being born with mental retardation and the child is born completely normal.
Given these few basic facts one would have to determine as a doctor that advising a patient to abort a fetus based on genetic testing may not
be ethical, considering that there is still a high degree of false positives. Still, the argument is, at least theoretically, that giving birth to such a child places an undue
burden on society as a whole who will have to support this person, as they more than likely will be unable to contribute to the community.
What one gains from genetic testing is simply knowledge, of a type. What one does with that knowledge should be the individuals choice. Mandating that a
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