Women's rights, disability rights

Parents who have a child with Down syndrome and believe in reproductive freedom walk a difficult line. I know this because I’m one of them. We’re committed to protecting legalized abortion while also advocating for unbiased information that might lead fewer women to choose termination after receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. I value women’s rights, but I also value the children who fill our lives with joy and purpose. Even as our society has made great strides to include people with disabilities, prenatal genetic testing is becoming increasingly routine, and abortion is being used to drive a political wedge between disability advocates and advocates of women’s reproductive rights.

Chris Kaposy confronts these dilemmas head on. Identifying as decidedly pro-choice, Kaposy offers a well-informed, thoughtful, and compassionate argument for why prospective parents might not just accept but welcome a child with Down syndrome into their families. Where much of the energy in Down syndrome advocacy has focused on why it is wrong to abort, Kaposy makes the refreshing case that it is a social good to bring people with Down syndrome into the world.

It is reasonable to ask why a book on the ethics of prenatal testing would focus exclusively on Down syndrome. Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal disability, affecting one in every 700 live births in the United States. While often associated with older mothers, babies with Down syndrome are born to women of all ages, and evenly distributed across races and geographic locations. Because of its ubiquity, Down syndrome is on the front lines of debates over abortion and genetic tests that are an increasingly routine part of prenatal care.