15 July 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 13 North Korea's ... - Eureka Street

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011A king of spades, beard curling, looked sadfor a family man on holiday.You could tell that if he used that swordto punish some poor hapless subjectit would be for the common good.A queen of hearts looked like Ann Boleynon the way to her own executionclutching a posy of forget-me-notswondering what happened to romance.Two jokers sat on crescent moonsleering down through binocularsprankster gods bemused by the in catchphrasestheir deft mental arithmetic, the waythe suits always ended up together.©2011 EurekaStreet.com.au 16
Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Aborting abnormalityCOMMUNITYZac AlstinIn a multi-ethnic society, we must be exposed to diversity in order to accept it without fearor hostility. No matter how friendly or open-minded we may be, awareness and exposure arethe only way to make something ‘new’ and ‘different’ become normal and even mundane.If this is true of ethnic and cultural differences, it is even more true of the differences thatoriginate in disabilities and medical conditions.Most of us cannot imagine how life with a disability could ever feel ‘normal’. Yet disabilityadvocates attest that the biggest obstacles to a happy and comfortable life stem from theprejudices and discrimination of the wider community.How many of us have positive, normalising experiences of disability on which we candraw? I have to admit that I can only recall meeting two or three people with disabilities in mylifetime.So perhaps we should not be surprised at the data released by the British Department ofHealth on 4 July, which details abortions performed for foetal abnormalities over the pastdecade. It revealed that in 2010 alone there were 482 foetuses aborted for Down syndrome, 181for musculoskeletal abnormalities such as club foot, 128 for spina bifida, and seven for cleft lipand palate.While these conditions may be abnormal in a medical sense, abortion is not a medicallyindicated response. One can only surmise that our sense of social abnormality plays a greaterrole in the decision to abort. With a scarcity of positive experiences to draw on, we cannotconsider disability and other medical conditions to be within the range of ‘normal’.I’ve never met anyone with Down syndrome. I don’t know anyone who has had a cleftpalate. There is nothing in my experience to normalise these conditions.For many of us, the disabilities and medical conditions subject to abortion in Britain andmost other developed countries will remain unfamiliar anomalies; notable deviations from thenorm. What kind of decision will we make if faced with an unfavourable diagnosis for ourown children?A 1999 literature review focusing on England and Europe found that 91—93 per cent ofpregnancies testing positive to Down syndrome were aborted. With comparable regimes fortesting and abortion, there is no reason to suspect that Australia’s abortion rates would differsignificantly.The overwhelming majority of parents choose to abort their disabled children. Through the©2011 EurekaStreet.com.au 17
Page 1: 15 July 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 13No
Page 4: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Hope
Page 8 and 9: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011This
Page 10 and 11: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011the
Page 12 and 13: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011All
Page 15 and 16: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Brot
Page 17: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011the
Page 21 and 22: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Rupe
Page 23 and 24: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011The
Page 25 and 26: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Cucu
Page 27 and 28: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Gill
Page 29 and 30: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Welc
Page 31 and 32: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Cybe
Page 33 and 34: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Hous
Page 35 and 36: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Indi
Page 37 and 38: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Sket
Page 39 and 40: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Doro
Page 41 and 42: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011I he
Page 43 and 44: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Plan
Page 45 and 46: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011Regi
Page 47: Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011©20

15 July 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 13 North Korea's ... - Eureka Street

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?