RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Screening for disability: a eugenic pursuit?
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP ii21
OP ii23
DO 10.1136/jme.27.suppl_2.ii21
VO 27
IS suppl 2
A1 John Gillott
YR 2001
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/27/suppl_2/ii21.abstract
AB This article is written in response to the idea that selective termination may be eugenic. It points out that a mixture of motives and goals may inform screening programmes and selective termination for fetal abnormality without the intention being “eugenic”. The paper locates modern genetics within the tradition of humanist medicine by suggesting that parents who choose to terminate a pregnancy because of fetal abnormalities are not making moral judgments about those who are living with these abnormalities already. Rather they are making judgments about their own lives and the lives of their children in relation to this genetic disorder. It concludes by introducing several caveats about the counselling that parents receive after the results of the testing and suggests that counselling inevitably contains a directive element because of the nature of the information covered.