controversy

Just the other day, a friend with twins posted this link on her fb page.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/magazine/the-two-minus-one-pregnancy.html?pagewanted=all

In short, it was about women who after finding out they are having twins, request a "reduction" procedure so that they only continue to carry a singleton pregnancy. The physical, emotional, financial burdens of such a pregnancy would be too much for them to handle. Most of these cases were couples who conceived after prolonged IVF treatments, where the risk of multiple gestation was higher to begin with.

My first reaction, and one that I posted on my friend's link was that this is the natural slippery slope that occurs in these controversial issues. What started as abortion for only extreme cases has become abortion for inconvenience, or "therapeutic abortions" as they are called in the medical community. And what started in the Netherlands as legalizing euthanasia for extreme cases where the patient is mentally capable of agreeing, has a terminal condition with intractable pain, has now allowed parents to euthanize their babies with a variety of handicaps. The Groningen Protocol allows children under 12yo to be euthanized since they cannot give "consent." A medical article that my husband found shows that most of the babies that are being terminated is because of spina bifida. This is not a life threatening condition, and they are completely cognitively normal. How does it fulfill "hopeless and unbearable suffering" of the euthanizsia protocol. I am saddened that the medical community assist in these procedures, when they know that these children can thrive.

How far are we going to go in our society to uphold freedom of individual choice at the expense of those who cannot speak for themselves? What kind of world allows one person to decide whether another should live or die based on physical or mental capacity?

Another interesting point from the article was that people who are otherwise pro-choice had a real problem with "reduction" from twin to singleton pregnancy, to the point where they became uncomfortable assisting in them. I find this bizzare and completely inconsistent with their values. Why is abortion ok for things like bad timing, but not to decrease from twins to singletons? I hope that this article challenges people's pro-choice views.

And I notice that people really shy away from commenting on theses controversial topics on social media. Why not? I really believe that in my lifetime, twin reductions, euthanizing infants and the hadicapped, and an even looser definition of marriage will openly exist where I live. The slippery slope is inevitable.

I am frightened by where society is going and how I will arm my child with a solid sense of right and wrong, and a reverend fear of God.