The availability of prenatal diagnosis : its impact on reframing disability

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the emotional and social tensions brought about by the availability of Prenatal Diagnosis (PND), and an examination of the impact of this availability in relation to our understanding of human rights and human dignity with respect to persons with disabilities, including their families. Human dignity, quality of life and the rights of disabled persons are explored with the aim to show how prenatal testing often reframes the way in which society looks at disability. The ethical medical professionals’ approach in relation to expecting mothers, who are undergoing PND is discussed. It is found that, PND creates a dilemma: on the one hand, there is a need to acquire all the information possible about the foetus, while, on the other hand, tension is created by a positive result as there is the suggestion that a malformed and/or diseased foetus is to be discarded. Is a disabled life really not worth living? The equal rights legislations found in many countries around the world, and the cry for rights that people with disability have been conveying to society, mean that numerous policies are making the lives of disabled people better since they can live independently and to the full, even if this entails the provision of twenty-four hour carers, and many context and environmental changes around them. Although this is positive and more rights are being enjoyed by many members of the disabled community, still, more State interventions and support are continuously needed, not only at birth, but even more to provide support to the parents during PND procedures, and especially in the aftermath of a positive diagnosis. It will be shown that even this, however, does not mitigate the negative impact of the availability of PND on societal perception of disability.