Eugenics Comments

On a list I belong to about rare trisomies such as trisomy 18 and trisomy 13, an interesting debate has come up as a result of me posting a link to a recent news article about abortion of 'seriously handicapped' fetuses. The list has publicly available archives so I just thought I might point to some of the stuff I find particularly insightful (note: these are mostly parents of trisomic children):

"I question how society can be so foolish to make judgments on quality of life that are not theirs to make. This was how the eugenics movement began. We fool ourselves by believing that having extremely strict laws against sterilization without consent will prevent a recurrence. It is all about judgment of human life."
http://www.freelists.org/archives/tri-med/01-2008/msg00052.html

And someone posted this link:
http://bioethics.seattlechildrens.org/events/pediatric_bioethics_conference/2007_pediatric_bioethics_conference.asp#presentations

"I find myself having to say often, Annie may have had a genetic condition, but after all, she was human. "
http://www.freelists.org/archives/tri-med/01-2008/msg00085.html

"I think our special babies are gatekeepers of a sort. As long as their health is managed ethically, all children are safe to receive appropriate care. However, when they are treated inhumanely, and when multiple nursing standards and hospital policies are violated (and acknowledged as such) some very serious questions need to be asked. The choice of most to terminate, must never reflect the care that children born with these conditions (and any person with disabilties, for that matter) receive. I think that this is how the individual choice to terminate based on " unbiased information" ultimately translates into a eugenic movement. Failure for the law and government agencies to react condones and confirms the existence of eugenics, in my opinion."
http://www.freelists.org/archives/tri-med/01-2008/msg00087.html