Would you (and your partner) consider abortion due to the possibility of birth defects?

[Duckus]

Only in the most severe cases.

[twa]

Or you could value the quality of life of your other children. I really don't get how this is such a binary decision for some people.

Different values?

It is possible for a special needs child to add to the other kids lives as well as subtract

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Different values?

It is possible for a special needs child to add to the other kids lives as well as subtract

True. Which doesn't change my point.

[rblgenius]

My wife and I are pro-life, but wouldn't choose it for our selves.

During our first pregnancy, we had the standard battery of tests done. The one that checks for spina bifida and downs syndrome came back "positive" for downs. We decided to have the baby, and today we have a healthy happy 10 year old boy. We concluded that if you aren't willing to do anything about the test, don't bother having it done and so for our next three children, we chose to skip it. It can only serve to provide you with anxiety and stress - unless of course you're willing to act on the results (which we were not).

This is one of the reasons why I would not consider it. Tests can be wrong. Its hard to judge what one would do or would not do until one is placed into the situation. You might say you would never abort but when its your life on the line, opinions change.

[twa]

True. Which doesn't change my point.

about binary?

If you see it as a individual it is a binary decision and will simply live or be killed...there is no middle

the effects on others are simply externals unless you value the possible efects/impact more than the individual life

[Koolblue13]

I grew up watching my mostly deaf and kind of retarded uncle. Sure he seemed happy, his room was full of carved elephants and saint Paulie girl posters. Seemed about as happy as my grandmother when she got Alzheimer.

It was depressing and sad. We did everything we could to include him in what we were doing and he kind of got it.

I also watched my hillbilly family fight over who gets to care for him, when my grandparents die, so they can get the money.

Everything about him is sad. He lived most of his life in group homes. I'd never want to be a part of a person, no matter how disabled, living that life.

[Bliz]

Possibility? No.

Certainty? Maybe. Depending on what it is. If it's the kind of deal where they're going to be a vegetable or living in pain from birth until they die a week or month later, then yeah. It would have to be something not just difficult or costly, but a death sentence. At that point having the baby is an act of selfishness.

Haven't read this whole thread but it reminds me of the bill currently sitting on Gov. Deal's desk in Georgia, which would require a woman to carry a fetus to term even if it has zero chance of survival. One interpretation is that even if the baby has already died, she would have to wait until she loses it "naturally" but I question whether that's accurate. A local pol in supporting the bill actually compared women to farm animals, talking about how he had delivered all sorts of stillborn pigs and cows, and if they can do it... It was really pretty disgusting.