Prenatal Diagnosis and Abortion for Congenital Abnormalities: Is It Ethical to Provide One Without the Other?
Prenatal Diagnosis and Abortion for Congenital Abnormalities: Is It Ethical to Provide One Without the Other?
复制标题
DOI：
10.1080/15265160902984996
复制
发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
13.4
通讯作者：
Ashcroft, Richard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ballantyne, Angela;Newson, Ainsley J.;Ashcroft, Richard
这篇目标文章考虑了在禁止堕胎的司法管辖区提供产前诊断 (PND) 和产前筛查服务以检测胎儿异常的伦理影响。这种不寻常的卫生政策环境在拉丁美洲地区很常见。由于卫生资源有限，发展中国家的先天性疾病往往得不到治疗或治疗不足，导致许多妇女/夫妇宁愿终止受影响的妊娠。在缺乏针对这些情况的合法和安全堕胎的情况下，提供 PND 会产生三种潜在危害：心理困扰、社会经济阶层之间负担的不公正分配以及家庭和社会的经济负担。我们将伊朗作为一个比较案例研究，对这些道德问题的认识导致对患有地中海贫血的胎儿的堕胎法放宽。我们认为，医生、遗传学家和政策制定者有道德和专业的谨慎义务来倡导变革，以减轻这些危害。
This target article considers the ethical implications of providing prenatal diagnosis (PND) and antenatal screening services to detect fetal abnormalities in jurisdictions that prohibit abortion for these conditions. This unusual health policy context is common in the Latin American region. Congenital conditions are often untreated or under-treated in developing countries due to limited health resources, leading many women/couples to prefer termination of affected pregnancies. Three potential harms derive from the provision of PND in the absence of legal and safe abortion for these conditions: psychological distress, unjust distribution of burdens between socio-economic classes, and financial burdens for families and society. We present Iran as a comparative case study where recognition of these ethical issues has led to the liberalization of abortion laws for fetuses with thalassemia. We argue that physicians, geneticists and policymakers have an ethical and professional duty of care to advocate for change in order to ameliorate these harms.