Bioethical dilemma in case of fetal abnormalities

Abstract

The 21 st century medicine comes with major improvements in prenatal screening due to growing sophistication and use of technology that can detect a physical or genetic abnormality, but also with considerable improvements in medical care, which means that even extremely premature babies or very ill ones now have better chances to survive and to make a good recovery. However, it can be difficult to predict the outcomes with great accuracy, whether the baby will die shortly after birth, will completely recover or will develop disabilities. This means that the family or the woman herself and the doctors often have to make a decision regarding the pregnancy, whether to keep it or terminate it, which can be very emotionally demanding for all the participants involved in the decision-making process. It is well known that the issue of abortion for fetal abnormality has become probably the most contentious of those raised in debates that involve abortion in recent times.