'Down's syndrome babies should be aborted before birth', says Richard Dawkins
 

"CONTROVERSIAL scientist Richard Dawkins has sparked anger once again - this time by claiming foetuses with Down's syndrome should be aborted.

The outspoken atheist author said parents should abort unborn babies with the condition and "try again".

He made the comments during a Twitter debate, provoking fury from many online.

Down's syndrome is a genetic disorder that delays growth and causes intellectual disability."

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/s-sy...ail/story.html

I like and respect Richard Dawkins but I think he may have gone too far in this instance.

"I honestly don't know what I would do if I were pregnant with a kid with Down Syndrome. Real ethical dilemma."


was the question

"Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice."

was his reply

----------------------------

he also added this

"“For what it’s worth, my own choice would be to abort the Down fetus and, assuming you want a baby at all, try again. Given a free choice of having an early abortion or deliberately bringing a Down child into the world, I think the moral and sensible choice would be to abort,” he says about what he would tell a parent of a baby diagnosed in the womb with Down syndrome. “And, indeed, that is what the great majority of women, in America and especially in Europe, actually do.”

And, again, Dawkins says it would be immoral not to kill such a baby in an abortion.

“I personally would go further and say that, if your morality is based, as mine is, on a desire to increase the sum of happiness and reduce suffering, the decision to deliberately give birth to a Down baby, when you have the choice to abort it early in the pregnancy, might actually be immoral from the point of view of the child’s own welfare,” Dawkins says.

Dawkins then deplores the horrible way in which parents of children with Down syndrome are forced to provide them with a loving home and care and support simple because they have a certain genetic condition. His comments are sure to stoke the fires of condemnation coming from parents and families of people with Down syndrome.

“In any case, you would probably be condemning yourself as a mother (or yourselves as a couple) to a lifetime of caring for an adult with the needs of a child. Your child would probably have a short life expectancy but, if she did outlive you, you would have the worry of who would care for her after you are gone. No wonder most people choose abortion when offered the choice,” he writes.

Dawkins then aplogizes for the tweets, only in the sense that they did not offer his complete thoughts on the matter.

“Of course I regret using abbreviated phraseology which caused so much upset,” he says — ignoring the fact that his longer position paper issued today essentially makes the same arguments for killing babies with Down syndrome."


I see no issue here. I agree with him

He's pretty much turned himself into Katie Hopkins, makes an obscene remark every once in a while to remind everyone he exists. He is a parody of himself.

what utter nonsense

The sad truth.

Many women undergo amniocentesis and make a decision. Its a fact.

I don't think they can detect downs till after 12 weeks so there is little chance of an "early termination". It's obviously down to personal circumstances and peoples strength to deal with a child with special needs but I don't think I could abort my child because of Downs Syndrome

There are plenty human beings who should be denied birth, Down's syndrome kids wouldn't be in that category imo

Yes of course some decide to keep the child. That is also a fact

Indeed but Mr Dawkins has his opinion and backs it up. There is no drama here.

Healthy babies can end up being disabled through illness or accident, should parents turn their backs in that scenario as well?

how would a parent know a healthy fetus would end up that way?

What the hell :( He's the reason I began labelling myself as a Humanist, he's not very humanist-like.

True. No idea why he felt the need to pipe up about this. It's a completely personal decision for the parents involved and there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.

Dawkin's gimmick is an increasingly tired one. He's about as affecting as Louise Mensch. I hope there is truth behind his fundamentalist attitude to material science because the idea of his soul knocking about for eternity is a real kick to the knees of anyone's day.

I don't agree with him at all.

Looking at his twitter, this was hugely taken out of proportion. Disappointed that you made me think so badly of him.

The real tweet:

He's the antithesis of a religious fundamentalist... but just as irritating.

hes an attention seeking scumbag, I cant believe how many people fell for his hateful bile

this particular line is right up there with the nazis

" It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice."

Someone with an opinion that is not the norm... I assume he is being hunted down like a dog as we speak?

Having an ethical/moral debate without looking at the practical/medical aspects is impossible.

murdering babies because theytre disabled is not acceptable. its a shame this evil attention seeking twat wasnt aborted for all the damage hes doing.

Wishing for him to have been aborted is just as bad.

he wants to murder millions of innocent baies, i just want to murder him retrospectively...so his thought crime is millions of times worse