Monday, August 22, 2011

The Human Cost of ‘Selective Reduction’

The Human Cost of ‘Selective Reduction’ - By Janet Morana - The Corner - National Review Online: Maybe our lives would have been easier had I “reduced” my pregnancy, but we would have missed the crazy magic of those early years.

I can’t put myself in the shoes of a woman who decided for a selective reduction, but I can imagine that her decision stays with her always, perhaps evoking one emotion one day, another the next. Decisions made out of personal powerlessness and lack of support are the decisions that no one wants to make. And they’re the decisions that refuse to let you rest, the puzzles that you try to solve and resolve for the rest of your life.

These decisions born of fear and powerlessness will probably always exist in one form or another, but does that mean we should all simply raise the white flag on this issue? That physicians should abandon their vow “to do no harm” because twins cost more money to raise?

I propose that all of us — the medical profession as well as society at large — make a collective decision to fight the fear. Let’s not abandon these women in the cynical belief that there’s not enough support for all of them.

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