Ableism and Its Effect on Medical Decisions at the Beginning of Life

Abstract

Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical and/or mental disabilities. It is the assumption that people with disabilities are inferior to those who are not, denying people their dignity by defining them by their disability. This denial results in the belief that people with disabilities cannot live rich and full lives. In the medical profession, the majority of physicians believe that people with a disability have a poor quality of life. This negative attitude results in how medical decisions are made at the beginning of life for those who have physical or genetic disabilities or are born at the cusp of viability. Combined with the idea of reproductive choice that says women can choose the quality of their unborn children, it becomes “common sense” to abort a fetus or refuse to resuscitate a newborn that has or may acquire a disability. Recognizing their innate dignity means that all humans are of equal value from fertilization to death. This would result in a change in how all human beings are seen at the beginning of life. Treatment would be based on how proportionately beneficial it is for the condition to be treated rather than by how the medical profession judges the fetus’ or newborn's overall “quality of life.”