Fetal Genetic Disorders Lead to Abortion Essay Example for Free

Fetal Genetic Disorders Lead to Abortion Essay When a woman first finds out that they are pregnant many factors of worry are present. One is particular is the worry of a genital defect. As women age their percentile chance of having a baby with a genital defect changes drastically. Common genetic disorders are trisomy 13, Patau syndrome, trisomy 18, Edward’s syndrome, and trisomy 21, Down syndrome. Although these can be treatable if a baby lives to adult age they will have a long list of medical problems to live with. Genital defects in babies is directly linked to the rate at which abortions occur. Although it may be easier to abort a baby with a genital defect it is still as wrong no matter what the circumstances. In order for someone to fully understand what having a baby with a specific genital disorder would be like, they must first understand the effects and symptoms of these disorders. When a baby is formed they have 46 chromosomes, 23 from their mom, and 23 from their dad. When nondisjunction occurs, no full separation of a chromosome pair is when genital disorders become present. Nondisjunction of two chromosomes 18 during the formation of an egg or sperm is by far the most common cause of Edwards syndrome. † (Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders) The interesting thing is that nothing before or during pregnancy causes this and nothing can be done to prevent it. The only well supported factor is that as the mother’s age increases there is a larger chance for complications. â€Å"Unlike Down syndrome, the developmental issues caused by Trisomy 18 are associated with medical complications that are more potentially life-threatening in the early months and years of life. (Trisomy 18 Foundation) Because of this 50% of babies with Trisomy 18 taken to term will be stillborn. (Trisomy 18 Foundation) Though there have been rare cases of people living to adulthood with this disease, they face life threatening complications that will be present until the day they die. Abortion has been present since the early 1800s and is still a major issue today. The most well known case dealing with abortion is that of Roe vs. Wade. In this case Wade was fighting against Roe by saying that if they rule abortion unconstitutional they â€Å"improperly invade a right said to be ossessed by a pregnant women, to choose to terminate her pregnancy. †(Herring 86) The final ruling on this case was that women should have the legal rights to her body and should be able to choose whether or not they will terminate their pregnancy. Several factors determine why a mother would choose an abortion. Single parenthood, not enough income, just doesnt want the baby, and/or medical issues. But one of the more rising issues is the fact that women will abort babies when they get a bad diagnosis. If their baby is going to be mentally retarded then why have it, the easier thing would be to just get rid of it. This has been the growing choice among mothers these days, especially the younger ones. By age 32 a women is 67% likely to have a baby with a genital defect, and is therefore 45% more likely to have an abortion. (Herring 193) The rising controversy of abortion can be directly linked to the diagnosis of fetal genetics disorders. If a woman receives the diagnosis that her baby will be born with Down syndrome and a series of other health issues then why give birth? If the baby is not going to be perfect then there are several women out there that feel the baby has no worth living. Every fetus becomes present at conception and deserves to live whether or not they have a genital defect. Most defects are treatable today and even the ones that are not if the baby is going to die anyway then why not let it die on it’s own terms, instead of terminating it. This is the argument that has been present since the early 1800s. In Roe vs. Wade the Supreme Court ruled that they did not have the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. But murder is a capital crime as well. So the real debate should not be that abortion is legal, the real issue should be whether or not abortion is seen as murder. Webster’s dictionary defines murder as the unlawful premeditated killing of a human being by another and also defines abortion as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. But when is a baby considered a human? When they are conceived, or when they are born? It would be considered murder if someone killed a baby after they were born, so why is it not considered murder if someone kills a baby before they are born. This is the true underlying issue of abortion. If the legal system can realize their gaps in their logic then maybe they can figure out that murder is murder no matter how big or how small a human is. Everyone has different morals and beliefs on what they think is right or wrong. But know matter what their moral or spiritual background n one can deny a human being life. So whatever the reason for abortion there need only be one reason against abortion. It is killing plain and simple. If killing is illegal then so is abortion.