Abortion of Mentally Disabled at UNC

My embryology professor said in class on Monday that he felt the moral thing to do if a pregnant mother discovered her child had Down Syndrome was to abort the fetus. Only one other student and I were outraged at his remark out of a class of 100. What is the world coming to?

I know this a more serious subject than most of you encounter in the barbershop forum, but I'm seriously off, especially when the professor hinted that any opposition to his opinion would jeopardize one's grades, and UNC will probably do nothing about it. I just needed to vent.

Sounds like a fascist..........Does he wear an armband?......

Yeah...it reads "IGNORANCE IS GOOD"

Is the test for DS even reliable? Friend of ours was told she was having twins, both with Down's, counseled to abort, which she flatly refused -- thankfully, since both kids were born without it.

No, amniocentesis can have a high false positive for Down's, which is why other tests are used.

That's sick and disgusting!

Is your professor related to Peter Singer? I believe he says it's okay to kill the baby for a certain period of time even after it has been born, if it is discovered to have some kind of abnormality. Brave new world, indeed.

The fact that your professor implied that your grade was dependent on you subscribing to his ethical views is objectionable, particularly on a topic as complicated and as personal as abortion. I recommend you focus on learning the subject matter and attach whatever importance you wish to your professor's views, and move on to as good a grade as you can get from the class. Since it's not an ethics class, who cares what the professor thinks, right?

Walravine said:

The fact that your professor implied that your grade was dependent on you subscribing to his ethical views is objectionable, particularly on a topic as complicated as abortion. I recommend you focus on learning the subject matter and attach whatever importance you wish to your professor's views, and move on to as good a grade as you can get from the class. Since it's not an ethics class, who cares what the professor thinks, right?

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+1

You won't be able to change his mind, and college is a place where everyone can express their views (supposedly, but in this case his words carry more weight than yours) so just get on with it, and save your energy for when you can actually do something about it...

Interesting take on morality to be sure...

Graduate with honors.....Then get creative.......

da0acer0 said:

+1

You won't be able to change his mind, and college is a place where everyone can express their views (supposedly, but in this case his words carry more weight than yours) so just get on with it, and save your energy for when you can actually do something about it...

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Yes, but I've worked and volunteered with people who have DS, and the mentally disabled have been fighting this kind of bigotry for forever. I feel that if I didn't take a stand on his statement, I would be silently assenting with his argument.

Howard Newell said:

Yes, but I've worked and volunteered with people who have DS, and the mentally disabled have been fighting this kind of bigotry for forever. I feel that if I didn't take a stand on his statement, I would be silently assenting with his argument.

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That is true, but what you also have to realize is that some people will look at him as some ppl look at Osama bin Laden. To us he is a terrorist, but to many others he is a freedom fighter, and some people probably think that this guy wants to save ppl with DS from suffering to begin with, and thats why they don't say anything...

(I do not in anyway approve of abortion in any way shape or form for any reason at all, I am just being the devils advocate and would have questioned the teacher as well)

Henric

You've got to follow your heart on this one, and do what you know is right to do. And if your grades are affected, be sure that UNC does something about it.

Good luck

There will it stop? For what other reason will they decide to kill off a baby?

I agree with your professor. I'd consider it a mercy killing, I've worked with mentaly handicapped children too, while they deserve respect I wouldn't want to put anyone through the hell which is their daily lives. I'm not going to argue it with you, I just thought you should know that not every body here agrees with you. Your beliefs should not affect your grades though, I don't agree with him on that and I would be mad about that too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a pretty common practice these days?

Never mind, I can't sleep so I looked it up. 91-93 percent of DS fetuses are aborted with a 2-5 percent false positive rate.

I agree with the professor, and so does my girlfriend. Good to know that we're on the same page if we ever have to confront that situation.

"the professor hinted that any opposition to his opinion would jeopardize one's grades, and UNC will probably do nothing about it"

This I find hard to believe.

DEmac said:

I agree with your professor. I'd consider it a mercy killing, I've worked with mentaly handicapped children too, while they deserve respect I wouldn't want to put anyone through the hell which is their daily lives.

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I would question how you know that their daily lives are "hell"? Maybe compared to your life, but they don't know anything different! The reality is that a mentally challenged person is probably in a much happier place than the rest of us.

Randy

rtaylor61 said:

I would question how you know that their daily lives are "hell"? Maybe compared to your life, but they don't know anything different! The reality is that a mentally challenged person is probably in a much happier place than the rest of us.

Randy

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Give them more credit than that, they know something is wrong. Besides, half the issue is the burden on the parents. Most of these fetuses are aborted by the end of the first trimester anyway, so the woman's reason for aborting it is really none of our business.

DEmac said:

Give them more credit than that, they know something is wrong. Besides, half the issue is the burden on the parents. Most of these fetuses are aborted by the end of the first trimester anyway, so the woman's reason for aborting it is really none of our business.

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I don't need to give "them" more credit than that. What I need to give them is love and support. Wait. That is something I should do for everyone. Unless you have walked a mile in "their" shoes then don't sell them short. It is my belief that we are all God's children and deserve to be treated as such. Just think. what if YOUR mother had decided on abortion.

Randy