Loosely related to ableism: Non-invasive tests to detect Down syndrome in fetuses have not been covered by the public health insurance in Germany until recently. Now that they are covered, the city state of Bremen has petitioned the federal government to issue a "monitoring" procedure, invoking that "the rules are not sufficiently clear". What they actually ask for is that expecting mothers who request this test go through obligatory discussions with a psychologist and some ethics committee. The motivation is that the state of Bremen fears that "an excessive number of mothers" would request this test. The unexpressed subtext is that they fear that too many unborns having the Down syndrome would be aborted.
Bremen, being a city state, has no countryside, which would typically vote more conservative than the city, so it is one of the most left-leaning states of Germany. What is astonishing is that the same ideology actively promotes abortion, my body, my rules, etc. But as soon as the fetus is in one of the "minorities", it becomes untouchable and suddenly they have qualms about abortion. What's the next step? To encourage genetic defects or to provoke them?
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Loosely related to ableism: Non-invasive tests to detect Down syndrome in fetuses have not been covered by the public health insurance in Germany until recently. Now that they are covered, the city state of Bremen has petitioned the federal government to issue a "monitoring" procedure, invoking that "the rules are not sufficiently clear". What they actually ask for is that expecting mothers who request this test go through obligatory discussions with a psychologist and some ethics committee. The motivation is that the state of Bremen fears that "an excessive number of mothers" would request this test. The unexpressed subtext is that they fear that too many unborns having the Down syndrome would be aborted.
ReplyDeleteBremen, being a city state, has no countryside, which would typically vote more conservative than the city, so it is one of the most left-leaning states of Germany. What is astonishing is that the same ideology actively promotes abortion, my body, my rules, etc. But as soon as the fetus is in one of the "minorities", it becomes untouchable and suddenly they have qualms about abortion. What's the next step? To encourage genetic defects or to provoke them?