interesting question of ethics

[wilde]

saw this on a web site, I'd like to read people's responses.

If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids
already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally
retarded, and she had syphilis; would you recommend that she have
an abortion?

Yes I would. To not do it will be willfully blind as well as stupid. This woman obviously has no concern for her children's welfare and the odds are stacked against her. It's like telling people to go and gamble because there is a 0.01% chance you will leave the casino with a big win. Just because the child turned out to be Beethovan dosen't make the decision wrong. Who is to say that there wouldn't have been another Beethoven to come along? What if the child turned out to be a Charles Manson instead? Making the best and most informed decision is all one can do in life. You then live with the consequences of those decisions whether they are favourable or not.

 

[hitrack]

I just don't understand why the fukk you need to have 8 kids. If your poor to begin with then why make your self poorer.

If your well off why you still don't need 8 fukkin kids.

If the kids are all retarded, blind and deaf, chances are the 9th will be too. Obviously something is fukked up in your body and you keep producing fukked up kids. Stop making them!!!! Tie off your husbands balls for christ sakes. Or if you need 9 kids that fukkin bad adopt one or two of them.

 

[Sexy BBW]

You have it all don't you lol

 

[wilde]

Becuz ma was so special, I growed up ta be a gud guy wif lotsa brainz.

Hope you are not taking the piss?

 

[schizo_man]

thanks folks for turning this into a discussion, which was my goal. It's interesting to read both sides of this issue, everyone has a valid post. Well, most everyone.

 

[katsrin]

actually it's beethovan spoil sport

1. Even if this was all true (and it isn't), what happened to the other 8 kids? Were they as successful as Beethoven, or did they live miserable lives?

2. Some criticisms of this, and similar, ethical questions:

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/twoquest.htm

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/beethovenabort.htm

 

[schizo_man]

1. Even if this was all true (and it isn't), what happened to the other 8 kids? Were they as successful as Beethoven, or did they live miserable lives?

2. Some criticisms of this, and similar, ethical questions:

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/twoquest.htm

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/beethovenabort.htm

Hey thanks for the links. Whether it's true or not is almost irrelevant, the point remains the same. You never know what the human spirit can do, what obstacles one can overcome. Just because a person may be born different doesn't mean that they are without worth.

Also, in a family of "normal" people, you can have a similar story where perhaps eight of the "normal" children wasted their lives and one has become a success

Again, thanks for the links, I had wanted to investigate this furthur but I haven't had the time today.

 

[HeMadeMeDoIt]

I'll do what's not commonly done here on perb and stick to the post, Yes I would encourage her to have an abortion and consider having her tubes tied at the same time.

If this person feels the need to have a soocer team or two of handicapped children she's welcome to go adopt any number she'd like that have whatever physical handicaps that she has not given birth to already. So that I dont get accused of being racist I' suggest she'd go get one from Asia and one from Africa and another from the South Pole; just to put at ease the next self righteous asshole that will surely jump on his high horse and respond to my post

 

[luckydog71]

Let me start by saying I am opposed to abortion. (now there is a surprise)
I also support a woman's right to choose (now there is a real surprise)

How does that square? I have a very strong opinion. I would not want to impose my strong opinion on others.

So I would not recommend she have an abortion.

Schizo - let's take your side to the next logical level of discussion. Euthanasia. If you believe aborting a child that is in a high risk category, would you support killing a child that would fall into that category as not worthy of life?

In fact let's kill the 8 kids she has now. Wait until the child is born and if the child is defective kill it then.

It would only be fair to give that new born the opportunity to prove it is worthy of living under the criteria you have set.

So getting back to your hypothetical....

What this woman needs is support. She obviously needs some counseling.

Regardless of the decision she makes, she will need some help.

 

[n2supersymmetry]

*shrug* I would leave her and her children alone and let evolution and society take care of it. It is unlikely her brood will advance to the next generation due to their disabilities though terminating them outright would be wrong because everyone deserves the chance to live and see where life takes them.
Arguably there are many more people with full command of their limbs and minds who leads wasteful, non-productive and even destructive lives. Should they all be rounded up and executed?

 

[sdw]

Let me start by saying I am opposed to abortion. (now there is a surprise)
I also support a woman's right to choose (now there is a real surprise)

How does that square? I have a very strong opinion. I would not want to impose my strong opinion on others.

So I would not recommend she have an abortion.

Schizo - let's take your side to the next logical level of discussion. Euthanasia. If you believe aborting a child that is in a high risk category, would you support killing a child that would fall into that category as not worthy of life?

In fact let's kill the 8 kids she has now. Wait until the child is born and if the child is defective kill it then.

It would only be fair to give that new born the opportunity to prove it is worthy of living under the criteria you have set.

So getting back to your hypothetical....

What this woman needs is support. She obviously needs some counseling.

Regardless of the decision she makes, she will need some help.

Let's take this "ethical" problem to the same conclusion that the Nazis took it. Wrong religion - raped, abused, dead; Defective at birth - dead at the hospital (yes the Nazi government had a policy for defective or wastefull children) Wrong politics, Unemployed, Uneducated, Too Old; it's so much less wastfull to kill them all.

Please report to the disposal center tomorrow, the bullet will be billed to your family.

 

[schizo_man]

Schizo - let's take your side to the next logical level of discussion. Euthanasia. If you believe aborting a child that is in a high risk category, would you support killing a child that would fall into that category as not worthy of life?

Hell no. I've never said that I agree with it, actually quite to the contrary. The child deserves to have a life, which has been my point all along. Genetics has also shown that just because the parents may be disabled, there is no guarantee that the child will be born that way. The likelihood is there. I myself have a condition that may or may not affect my children, apparently there is a 75% chance that they may have it. If they are not affected by it, they would be a carrier of the gene and could pass it on to their children. It's a decision that I've had to consider, would I want my child to be affected the way that I have? If I had the child, it would in no way affect my love for it, nor would I consider for a moment abortion. I feel that once life has begun, it would be wrong to end that life.

However, if you think that abortion is totally wrong, what if the mother and the fetus' life was endangered, if you could save only one, the mother or the unborn child, what would you do?

 

[luckydog71]

However, if you think that abortion is totally wrong, what if the mother and the fetus' life was endangered, if you could save only one, the mother or the unborn child, what would you do?

I did not say abortion was totally wrong. I said I do not support it.

The decision is a decision for the pregnant woman to make. Not mine. Not my gov't. Not yours.

If I was asked my opinion I would give it. If I was not asked my opinion I would keep my mouth shut.

 

[PoorGuy]

Unfortunately the "children" of Bountiful, British Columbia have no choice.