Pregnant women with fetal abnormalities: the forgotten people in the abortion debate.

The Medical Journal of Australia
Lachlan J de Crespigny, Julian Savulescu

Abstract

Abortion law reform focuses on early abortion. Women wanting to have a family who have a fetal abnormality detected later in pregnancy are neglected in the debate and harmed by the consequences of current legal uncertainty. Unclear abortion laws compromise: the quality of prenatal testing; management when an abnormality is found; and patient care, through obstetricians' fears of legal repercussions. Women carrying a fetus with an abnormality are being denied abortion, even when the abnormality is so severe that non-treatment would be an option if the baby were born. Many women are likely to refuse to consider motherhood if they are denied appropriate prenatal testing and access to abortion if serious abnormalities are detected. Current abortion laws result in discriminatory and inconsistent practices, where access to prenatal testing and termination of pregnancy depends on location, the values of the treating doctor or hospital ethics committee, and a woman's personal resources. Legal certainty is needed to reduce the suffering of couples wanting to have a family.

References

Aug 18, 1979·Lancet·P S HarperK Davies
Apr 1, 1997·Bioethics·Julian Savulescu
Apr 3, 2002·The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology·Farhat Yusuf, Stefania Siedlecky
Aug 18, 2004·The Medical Journal of Australia·Lachlan J De Crespigny, Julian Savulescu
Dec 2, 2006·The Medical Journal of Australia·Kei LuiDavid Henderson-Smart
Feb 9, 2007·The New England Journal of Medicine·Farr A CurlinJohn D Lantos

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Citations

Sep 22, 2019·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Kornelia ZarębaGrzegorz Jakiel
Jul 8, 2008·The Medical Journal of Australia·Edward D WattJohn T Wenham
Jun 4, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Kornelia ZarębaGrzegorz Jakiel
Apr 2, 2019·The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care : the Official Journal of the European Society of Contraception·Kornelia ZarebaGrzegorz Jakiel
Apr 7, 2010·International Journal of Pediatrics·Atul MalhotraLynn Gillam
Dec 19, 2018·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Kornelia ZarębaGrzegorz Jakiel
Jul 14, 2010·The Medical Journal of Australia·Lachlan J de CrespignyJulian Savulescu
Jan 27, 2017·The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care : the Official Journal of the European Society of Contraception·Caroline de Moel-Mandel, Julia M Shelley
May 1, 2010·Australasian Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine·Sneha Joshi, Talat Uppal
Jan 8, 2011·Journal of Bioethical Inquiry·Daryl Pullman

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