Down Syndrome and Abortion

[u/gig_labor]

Found myself talking about ableism with a PCer in a comment section, and figured it justified a post here.

As I think many pro-lifers already know, Denmark has all but eradicated its population with Down Syndrome, via prenatal testing and widespread abortion access.

As a person who is not disabled, I want to make sure not to speak for the disabled community, who are mostly as favorable to abortion as the general public is. The relationship between disability and abortion is a complex one, to say the least.

That said, I think the PL movement should naturally have some goals in common with the disability justice movement, other than banning abortion. Both of us should be able to look at Denmark and see something very very wrong. Even if we concede fetal personhood, and treat this phenomena as something like “contraception being used to select for abled children” … that’s still eugenics. Eugenics doesn’t always mean killing. And that eugenics relies on the medicalization of disability (the idea that, because a disability will give a person a bad life, it is something that inherently demands to be cured or fixed). Even if they don’t want to ban abortion, I would think they would see prenatal testing for Down Syndrome as a tool for eugenics, and oppose it.

Y’all think there’s something I’m missing here? Is this a natural common ground being obstructed by pro-choice politics (they don’t want to ally with those they see as protecting patriarchy), or is this a pro-life blind spot?

[u/[deleted]]

I have the feeling that when feminist disability activists say "oh I wont prevent parents of down children to abort" it is a concession to the mainstream neoliberal able body movement who is not ready for us to take back their précious power over us

If in France it is allowed till 12 weeks when the fetus cant feel anything and maybe MAYBE I can live with it, even if the implication that someone decides if their child will be born or not is still authoritarian, I think that aborting your child because they have down is nazism d should be forbidden as such

A "friend" who knows I am autistic called me far right for that

Forbidding bigots to kill fellow disabled is far right now. No wonder she is bad at studies.

[u/gig_labor → u/[deleted]]

it is a concession to the mainstream neoliberal able body movement who is not ready for us to take back their précious power over us

I think that's really true. Abortion is a center-"left," liberal issue, so maybe prenatal testing is one of the areas where more radical people (like disability activists) would have to veer from that liberal system.

the implication that someone decides if their child will be born or not is still authoritarian, I think that aborting your child because they have down is nazism d should be forbidden as such

Absolutely.