It's a controversial topic but in the end I was always of the belief that it's a woman's body and ultimately a woman's choice - especially under certain circumstances. That said, a news cast I saw this morning made me question whether that philosophy should be so, in every case.
Child birth has been a part of life since the beginning of time. It's a natural process, or rather it used to be, where nature takes its course and life moves forward. These days though, I have to wonder if man isn't intervening just a tad too much with nature. From selecting the sex of your baby, to sprouting a child in a petri dish, there's little that man can't accomplish when it comes to science. Today I heard about the process of keeping one - or some - of your babies and doing away with the other(s). The process has been given the nice, tidy title of "fetal reduction."
In other words, doctors can "reduce" the pregnancy from let's say twins, to a single baby through a little-known procedure that eliminates selected fetuses. Selective reductions are typically carried out for women pregnant with triplets or greater, where the risk of harm or death climbs sharply with each additional fetus. And in these instances I can see the merit.
What I found a little disturbing about this morning's report was hearing about the other instances when the "fetal reduction" method is used and about how popular it's becoming.
Not just being done out of medical necessity, people (many of whom paid dearly to become pregnant) are opting to minus themselves of a baby or two, or three, because they're making a "lifestyle choice." Having more children than they bargained for is an inconvenience after all. Something just sounded wrong when the woman speaking about the procedure said often it's better for everyone involved - including the reduced child. The REDUCED child? That sounds like something out of a Hollywood sci-fi movie. And talk about a grand way to remove the guilt of it all. Imagine introducing your little ones one day - this is Sally and Frankie, and oh, poor little Johnny, he had to be reduced...
I still believe in choices. Nobody can understand what a woman is going through, or her situation, unless they are in her shoes, but if you ask me this is taking the pro-choice concept way back in time. If children don't fit with your "lifestyle" then don't opt to have them.
