Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Test threatens disappearance of Down Syndrome children
ABC (Australia)'s 7.30 Report has reported that a new pap smear which can accurately test for Down Syndrome babies could lead to their elimination. "It's now clear that without a major education campaign to accompany mass screening for Down Syndrome, we may never see children like this again," says journalist Mark Bannerman. At the moment, 80% of Down Syndrome children are born to women who have not been tested. A survey in a Melbourne hospital has suggested that 98% of women who are tested will have an abortion.
Bannerman tried to redress widespread misconceptions about Down Syndrome. He interviewed a young Down Syndrome woman who is working with computers and has played roles on stage and TV shows. The potential of people with Down Syndrome "doesn't seem to have filtered through to those most in need of hearing it... doctors," says Bannerman. Instead, most doctors advise women to have an abortion. One mother told him that she would probably have aborted her Down Syndrome daughter if she had had the test. Now she feels differently: "She is my joy. She makes my heart burst, she really does."
ABC (Australia)'s 7.30 Report has reported that a new pap smear which can accurately test for Down Syndrome babies could lead to their elimination. "It's now clear that without a major education campaign to accompany mass screening for Down Syndrome, we may never see children like this again," says journalist Mark Bannerman. At the moment, 80% of Down Syndrome children are born to women who have not been tested. A survey in a Melbourne hospital has suggested that 98% of women who are tested will have an abortion.
Bannerman tried to redress widespread misconceptions about Down Syndrome. He interviewed a young Down Syndrome woman who is working with computers and has played roles on stage and TV shows. The potential of people with Down Syndrome "doesn't seem to have filtered through to those most in need of hearing it... doctors," says Bannerman. Instead, most doctors advise women to have an abortion. One mother told him that she would probably have aborted her Down Syndrome daughter if she had had the test. Now she feels differently: "She is my joy. She makes my heart burst, she really does."
