{"id":286491,"date":"2023-03-05T11:26:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T17:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=286491"},"modified":"2023-03-02T20:18:27","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T02:18:27","slug":"salon-abortion-legal-disabilities-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/salon-abortion-legal-disabilities-born\/","title":{"rendered":"Salon: Abortion should be legal in case more babies with disabilities are born"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While women are giving birth less than<\/a> in previous years, they are also giving birth at older ages than before. It has become increasingly normal for women to give birth over the age of 35, and for women to continue giving birth past the age of 45. And while most people would find this to be a positive, Salon writer Mary Elizabeth Williams argued<\/a> that this means women need abortion.<\/p>\n

Williams noted that, according to U.S. Census data<\/a>, there has been a 132% increase in births by women over the age of 40 since 1990. And thanks to medical advancements, Williams admitted that these pregnancies are largely safer than ever. Yet somehow, she believes these successful pregnancies are also a reason that abortion should be legal.<\/p>\n

Children with disabilities<\/h3>\n

“Concerns about fetal abnormalities \u2014 often a concern among those who have children at an older age \u2014 also need to be thought about in context,” Williams said.<\/p>\n

She interviewed fertility specialist Cynthia M. Murdock, who criticized the notion of women having babies with their own eggs at older ages. Why? Because they might have children with disabilities. “The reality is… when you’re using a donated egg, you don’t have the risk of Down syndrome, of chromosomal problems, that you would with a 45-year-old who uses her own eggs,” Murdock said. “The risk of Down syndrome is associated with not the age of the woman, but the age of the eggs.”<\/p>\n

In an article framed around how women ‘need’ abortion, the point is made clear: older women might conceive a child with a disability, and therefore, abortion is deemed necessary.<\/p>\n