This is the reason we check for trisomy 21 (Down's syndrome) Quad screen at week 15-18; so we allow the parents a chance to abort the fetus. Why would you want to bring a mentally retarded kid into this world to continue the suffering. I have so many MRCP adults (like 30 yr down's, MRCP) in my clinic, bed ridden, wheel chair bound, PEG tube feeding, ventilator dependent. This is not quality of life, and not even sure if they are aware of the surrounding. It is sad situation; this can be avoided if the fetus was aborted early on. It is inhumane and unusually cruel punishment to put a human being through 30-40 years of shit quality of life, while it could have been prevented before they develop any sort of sense of surrounding, pain, or perception as the CNS is pretty immature at that early stage.

And please remember, many pregnancies with other genetic defect (severe enough) are auto-matically aborted in a process call spontaneous aborption; nature has build in a way for the women to not be able to carry the fetus to term in many other situation; it is just that Down's can usually survive, (or others like Edwards, Pradar-Willi, and so on). So aborption itself, is not a novel thing, the body does it all the time. The rate of spontaneous aborption is relatively high.

Mentally retarded is a pretty vague term, but depending on what exactly the child would be diagnosed with I would consider it.

 +100000000

Yes, but no if I knew the child would be gay.

No, I would not abort.

No, I would support the kid and protect him/her. I think it's sick looking at some of these comments. I don't view helping people as a chore, and I believe everyone has the right to live.

I'd argue that men don't put people through decades of unnecessary suffering.

Probably yes.

That's terrible.  A horrible sign of the times if that statistic is true.  Children with disabilities should be given more love, not less.  Abortion is always an act of evil.  The only circumstance I can imagine where it may be prudent is within the first 24-36 hours after a rape...go in for an estrogen shot.  Even in that case, it would be best to just get the shot and not even know for sure if there was fertilization.

Who are you to pass that kind of judgement?  And how is mental retardation considered suffering? Does it cause physical pain?  People with disabilities need more love and care, not less. 

You know, Hitler and the Nazi's used scientists to conduct experiements during WWII to try and breed or alter people from their original state to make them more "perfect". 

The very idea that two people would have sexual intercourse (likely just for pleasure and not even procreation), learn they're with child, then decide to murder it in the end because they didn't want to deal with imperfections makes me sick to my stomach.