Defiant Birth: Women who Resist Medical EugenicsDaring women--those who were told not to have their babies due to perceived disabilities in themselves or their unborn children--tell their stories in this controversial book that looks critically at medical eugenics as a contemporary form of social engineering. Believing that all life is valuable and that some are not more worthy of it than others, these women have given birth in the face of disapproval and hostility, defied both the creed of perfection and accepted medical wisdom, and given the issue of abortion a complexity beyond the simplistic pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy. As it questions the accuracy of screening procedures, the definition of a worthwhile life, and the responsiblity for determining the value of an imperfect life, this book trenchantly brings to light many issues that for years have been marginalized by the mainstream media and restricted to disability activism. |
Contents
Elizabeth R Schiltz | 42 |
a marullo | 73 |
Teresa Streckfuss | 89 |
Sandi Seyferth | 112 |
Julia Anderson | 129 |
Karalyn McDonald | 145 |
Johanne Greally | 159 |
Heather Arnold | 177 |
Stephanie Gillespie | 196 |
Leisa Whitaker | 211 |
Alison Streeter | 224 |
Rosaleen MoriartySimmonds | 239 |
Lisa Roche | 258 |
Michelle Harmon | 278 |
Glossary | 300 |
| 329 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
able abnormality abortion achondroplasia amniocentesis Andrew anencephaly asked Australia baby baby's beautiful Benedict birth blood born caesarean caesarean section cells chance Charlotte child choice chromosome clinic condition counsellor daughter decision defect disabled women disease doctor dwarfism embryos eugenics experience feel felt fetal foetus friends genes genetic counsellor genetic screening geneticist girl going Grace Hadamar happened heart HIV-positive women hospital human Huntington's disease husband Jega knew later legs lives looked Mönchberg months mother needed never normal nurse obstetrician pain parents percent Peter placenta placenta previa pregnancy pregnant women prenatal diagnosis prenatal testing problem realise remember reproductive risk scan shock social society started sterilisation surgery syndrome talk technologies tell termination Thalidomide thing Thomas Walter thought told took Turner's syndrome ultrasound waiting wanted weeks woman wonderful worried wrong


