How narcissistic have we become in this country? We’ll have the baby as long as it doesn’t have any “defect”? i work with a down’s individual. he is one of the most caring individuals you could meet. His Down’s causes him some problems…which while they infuriate me at times don’t make him any less special in God’s eyes and that’s what i constantly remind myself as. If you don’t want a “non-perfect’ child…don’t do the knocking boots thing at all. Nothing gives you the right on this earth to murder your child..especially not this..we’ll keep the child only if perfect…or we’ll make somebody else pay for the costs of the child’s care…this is total and utter crap.
Ariel and Deborah Levy are arguing in a Portland, Ore., courtroom that their 4-year-old daughter Kalanit should never have been born.
A jury just awarded the Levys $2.9 million for the “wrongful birth” of Kalanit, who has Down syndrome. According to a story in the Oregonian, the Levys, concerned about the risk of Down due to the mother’s age, sought prenatal testing. They maintain that the lab and doctors at Legacy Health Care’s Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in North Portland botched the test.
They say they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known what a properly conducted test could have told them — their fetus would be born with Down’s. Now, they want $3 million to pay for the lifetime costs of care for their child.
The very fact that such a case can make it into a courtroom reveals a lot that is wrong with public policy and ethics in America.