Aspies For Freedom

I'm having a hard time getting people to believe me that a prenatal test for autism is intended as a cure. If you guys have sites from curbies saying so, even in not so plain words, I could definately use them.

Do they think that its just intended to inform parents? If so, show the other things that are tested for like Downs syndrome, 90% of them get aborted.

Why would they have these tests that could be done at birth as prenantal tests, unless abortion was being thought of, as the amniocentesis and obtaining fetal blood samples can cause miscarriage.

Maybe some people are ultimately in denial about it all.

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autism prevention

that is all

I'm not the one that needs convincing, but I've decided to spread the word outside of the Autism community, and so far I've had difficulty convincing people. But your argument is helping.

I know you don't! I was saying what you could tell them. :smile:

I am asking people not to use prenatal genetic testing.  There are a few tests that detect problems prenatally and there is some advantage to knowing ahead of time since some treatments can even be done in the womb.  There does not seem to be much advantage to doing most of the tests prenatally.  

If enough people refused certain prenatal tests then it would influence the medical professional and it would not be economically feasible to have tests that no one would use.  In fact, if it was considered unethical and politically incorrect to use prenatal genetic tests then people would stop using them.  They could test the babies after birth.  I think all people with genetic disabilities or differences should support this and even demand this.  

I talked with some pro-life Christians.  Many said they refused some tests just because they could see no advantage to them and did not want to be pressured to have an abortion.  A few disagreed with me.  Only one mother said she was told that her baby had a fatal deformity and he died shortly after birth.  She said knowing prepared her for the death but how could she be sure unless she had had another child that died before.  It still made her sad.   Another said when she found out her baby had Down's syndrome, she wanted to know so she could choose a hospital that had good cardiac care for the birth.   She was told by "March of Dimes" that babies with Down's usually had heart and digestive problems.  They did not seem to understand that if enough people would refuse prenatal tests, then many babies would be saved from abortions.

I am Catholic and, like the majority of Catholics, I am pro-life. When I was pregnant with my son, they wanted to do an amniocentisis because both my husband and I have French-Canadian ancestry and there is a risk of Tay Sachs. I said no, as I had no plan to abort my child under any circumstance. And unless something can be done in utero to help a child, the only real purpose I see for prenatal screening (key word here: "screening") is to decide whether or not that child ought to be born.

Tay Sachs would have been truly horrible -- watching our child get sicker all the time then die around 5 years old -- but I felt that a short life would've been better than no life at all. Who says that life would have had to be all about him being sick? We could still play and laugh and love and hope with a Tay Sachs child.

Abortion is the progressive "solution" to socially denegrated variation.

I think there's something like a 1% chance that amniocentesis will causes a spontaneous abortion. Or maybe it was 0.1%

Was wondering since I know that's the reason my mother didn't want to get one done even though she was in the age range more susceptible to having a Down's baby. Maybe the method has become safer since then...

Try reading Freakonomics. The author of this theory believes legalized abortion actually has brought the crime rate down today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakonomics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_a...ime_effect

I've read that, too.  But the theory has less to do with genetic testing than it does with women not ready to raise children in the first place, as I understand it.  By many such women choosing abortion, they fail to expose a child to a life that is likely to have been disruptive and insecure, things which increase the likelihood the child will grow into an adult who commits crime.  Not saying if I buy that or not, just interesting.

I am one of those who choose not to take the amnio, which was quite a rebellious position given that I was 41 when I had my second child.  What I found really sad was that I could tell insurance companies are essentially forcing doctors to insist on the test, least the doctor get sued by a woman bearing an "imperfect" child.  The amnio provides a risk to the fetus, small but real, and does not provide any information that can lead to positive medical intervention before the baby is born.  The kinds of problems that can be corrected in utero are being identified using ultrasounds, not amnios.  Hence, the later test was something I took.

I do think it is an issue of education.  People wrongly assume the amnio might lead to discovery of a problem that could be corrected.  When I ask someone why they took the test, the answer is usually a simple, "I'm over 35.  The doctor ordered it."  If I ask them if they know why it is normally ordered for women over 35, they often don't really know.  If they do know, my question is often the first time they've really thought about it, and all that it means.

I've gotten several women to not take the test simply by telling them to ask their doctor what I asked, "will we get any information that can save my baby if something is wrong?"  The answer, simply, is no.  Not enough women know that.

I remember this lady who was 34 and was panicking a bit because she was meant to be having an amniocentices to see if her baby was abnormal. I didn't know her well enough but would have advised her not to get the test if I had have know her better.

She had one healthy son but I don't know if there had been any problems otherwise. I wouldn't have the test under any circumstances.