LONDON, Feb 27, 2001 (LSN.ca) – A study published in the current edition of the British Medical Journal shows that some doctors provide overly negative impressions of genetic imperfections detected in unborn children, likely increasing the number of parents who opt for abortion as a result. The researchers called the “grossly inadequate” and “misleading” information “disturbing,” and called for obstetric units to have an established protocol for presenting results to parents.
Dr. Lenore Abramsky and colleagues at Imperial College, London, asked 29 health professionals how they informed 23 patients after an amniocentesis test identified an extra X or Y chromosome. Since the realization of disability due to the extra chromosome is slight, the fact that six of the patients had abortions as a result of the news is very disturbing evidence of the results of the misinformation.
See the BMJ article at: https://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7284/463
See coverage by the BBC: https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1183000/1183777.stm
(with files from the Society of the Protection of Unborn Children)