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Well, if you'll put on your cyncial hat, the in-utero treatment you wish for already exists:
plannedparenthood.com

In America, about 90% of diagnosed DS fetuses are aborted. That is an interesting percentage, since polls indicate that more that 20% of Americans think abortion should be illegal under all circumstances. At least half of those people are apparently hypocrites, willing to make an exception for their own convenience.

Citations:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Abortion_rates

Those two statistics are totally unrealated as most DS fetuses come from parents with a genetic predisposition to DS and not the general population. So, you are extrapolating the behavior of small population to the whole population. That would be an invalid application of statistics and lead to false conclusions.

With regards to a child with a disability, it's a lot like schroedinger's cat, you don't know what you will do until you are faced with the situation (or open the box, so to speak). You will also find that many of these couples that terminate their pregnancy also get themselves sterilized to prevent future pregnancies.

So, like rape and incest, using down syndrome and abortion as a generalization for the population as a whole is a statistically invalid application.

Well, if you'll put on your cyncial hat, the in-utero treatment you wish for already exists: plannedparenthood.com

In America, about 90% of diagnosed DS fetuses are aborted. That is an interesting percentage, since polls indicate that more that 20% of Americans think abortion should be illegal under all circumstances.

Since we're talking statistics, amniocentesis, the invasive test for Down Syndrome, has a 0.75% chance of ending the pregnancy so we opted for a lower risk combination of an ultrasound scan and blood test. The results (along with our age and other factors) gave a 1 in 40 (2.5%) chance of a baby with Down Syndrome. But the nurse who read the results to us didn't say once chance in 40 and she didn't say 2.5% chance. She said 40% chance! (Is mathematic literacy a medical training requirement.) Fortunately we did the tests merely to inform ourselves of what special preparation we might need to make. Abortion for eugenic purposes is not legal here in Ireland as it is in the US. Unfortunately this same nurse trained in Boston. Heaven only knows how many pregnancies were ended based on this. We're thankful for a healthy little boy who doesn't have Down Syndrome but we may all owe a debt of gratitude to people with Down Syndrome. Studying the characteristics of this syndrome may help us understand Alzheimers and studying the fact that cancer is much rarer in people Down Syndrome may help us understand and cure this terrible disease.

The take no prisoners battle between the anti-life and anti-choice people have left us in a state of anti-science, anti-compassion and anti-love.

Well, if you'll put on your cyncial hat, the in-utero treatment you wish for already exists:
plannedparenthood.com

In America, about 90% of diagnosed DS fetuses are aborted. That is an interesting percentage, since polls indicate that more that 20% of Americans think abortion should be illegal under all circumstances. At least half of those people are apparently hypocrites, willing to make an exception for their own convenience.

Citations:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_syndrome#Abortion_rates

Well, if you'll put on your cyncial hat, the in-utero treatment you wish for already exists:

plannedparenthood.com

Some of these treatments coming out really make me worry for the future. Random mutations make their way in a consistent fashion into the human gene pool, and stuff like this prevents them from being filtered out. As cool as this would be *now*, given enough generations these mutations will disburse (ever wonder why so many people have blue eyes?) and eventually the entire human race becomes diseased and enslaved to these treatments.

I mean, come on...if you subsidize something, you get more of it. if it isn't strong and healthy, throw it out and pump out a new one. Its not like we're suffering a worldwide shortage of semen at the moment!

And before I hear one more sob story about how great "X" family member was and how they had the disease, let me remind you that our tax dollars are subsidizing the situation (many many times more than a regular child for special needs care)...yes, people feel the warm fuzzies when they encounter a less capable people who deals with their situation in a positive fashion, but that doesn't make it right, or proper.

I don't know, am I just too cynical? I think at a certain point you're gonna get a test result back and either you do the right thing, or you elect to have a human pet that is a drain on society (but nice for you). I think that stinks. Look around, we're already busting at the seams because there is less and less meaningful work for someone who falls below a certain point on the bell curve, and its getting worse as time goes on.

Validity is what I'm after, not this "oh my God! Religion is going to destroy the country!" schizophrenic paranoia

Lets just list several examples of recent eggregious religious activities in this country:

1. Pharmacist refusal of dispencing emergency contraceptives over religious beliefs

2. Defying Chief Justice in Alabama keeping 10 commandments in court house

3. Terry Schiavo fiasco

there's plenty more to bring up...hell, you could probably add some more to the list but where you might see this as justified/morally qualified responses, I couldn't disagree with them any more.

I'm not going to say that this is all the Bush and Republican admistration but it's just the climate of the masses in this nation that sadly are out of sync with the times...Really, power in this nation doesn't even come down to the religious righteousness of one person over another (though it has been vocalized more and more through minority views of these such people), its by votes and public opinion. I tend to lean more towards intellegence should be the overall guiding force in any and all situations, not the mob mentality. Furthmore, if political power were measured in wealth both monatary and intellectually means, you and I both know the current state of this country wouldn't be in this constant state of immobility.

This sounds like the "Trusted Intercourse" initiative being championed by Planned Parenthood and others. Essentially, they want to make sure that everyone a person has sex with can be trusted... and we're talking beyond the partner simply stating that they don't have diseases, they haven't been with anyone else in the past six months, yadda yadda. The Trusted Intercourse initiative basically wants everyone to be carrying electronic cards with up-to-date test results (bi-weekly), and a record of everyone they've had sex with. Essentially, everytime someone wants to have sex with a person, he or she swipes his or her card into some sort of device that the other person has. This creates a record on the card. In addition, the device indicates whether this person is safe, by analyzing certain criteria.

Of course, the obvious flaw in all this is that someone can avoid swiping his or card to avoid making a record. Planned Parenthood realizes this and envisions a day when everyone will have embedded RFID-like tags that will speak to each other, keeping records and notifying people of safe-sex worthiness. In the beginning, however, they want to start with a small group of volunteers who promise to use the cards at all times.

On the surface, this program has some merits, but it would scare the hell out of me if it was ever implemented. For more information, visit the Planned Parenthood website at:

www.plannedparenthood.com

Prepare to be amazed.

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