Selective Reduction Abortion

Selective Reduction Abortion

For many years, infertile couples have had difficulty facing the reality that they can not have children. According to Nidus Information Services Incorporated, 6.2 million women in the United States are infertile. This problem leads to many options. A few options have been used for a long period of time: the couple could adopt a child or keep trying to have a child themselves. For those couples that want to have their own children, there are new options arising. In vetro fertilization is an option that gives couples the chance to have a doctor combine the male's sperm and the woman's eggs in a petri dish and implant them into the woman's womb after the artificial conception. This may result in multiple pregnancies - more than five in some cases. This does not only occur in implantation, however. Many times the patient's doctor will ask her to consider selective reduction: aborting a few fetuses to save the ones she can. In a case of multiple pregnancy, selective reduction should be considered an option.

"This is the heart of our struggle over abortion, for it is a struggle between gods." said United Methodist pastor Reverend Marc Rogers. "The worship of this false god, the god of abstraction, is killing us literally - - killing not only unborn children, but killing our nation and our church." The FIGO Committee for the Study of Ethical Aspects for Human Reproduction does not agree with this view. "Selective reduction of a multiple pregnancy is not an abortion procedure because the intention is that the pregnancy continues," says the Committee. In many cases, if no fetuses are aborted, all of the fetuses will die. A couple that has had their first success at getting pregnant after a long time of infertility, whether by in vetro fertilization or through sex, is not guaranteed to have a second chance at having children. Often, a fetus in the womb will contract disease that could potentially spread to the others, also causing risk for failure. Using selective reduction to increase the chances of having any children at all instead of no children should not be looked down upon by anyone.

Many couples who are infertile can not handle the financial responsibility of multiple children. If a couple has seven children in one pregnancy, the financial strain can lead to chaos. There were only three sets of living septuplets in the United States in 1997, according to the Knight-Ridder's journalist Tracy A.