title: Informed consent or institutionalized eugenics? How the medical profession encourages abortion of fetuses with Down syndrome.
abstract: Many women are unprepared to make prenatal decisions about fetuses diagnosed with Down Syndrome because of societal pressures to have "normal" children, a negative view of persons with disabilities by many in society, a fear of legal liability by those in the medical community, the lack of genuine informed consent before undergoing genetic testing and abortion, and the failure of non-directive pre-abortion counseling in the medical community. Moreover, medical professionals fail to communicate correct and unbiased information before and during the genetic screening, diagnostic testing, and abortion decision-making process. This article addresses the contributing factors and causes that ultimately lead to a lack of informed consent and a very high abortion rate for fetuses diagnosed with Down Syndrome.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh, USA.
authors.forename: Darrin P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Dixon
mesh_terms: D000025:Abortion, Eugenic / Q000941:ethics* / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003657:Decision Making; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005053:Eugenics; D005260:Female; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000941:ethics; D014481:United States