The State of Affairs Regarding Counseling for Expectant Parents of a Child With a Disability: Do ACOG’s New Practice Guidelines Signify the Arrival of a Brave New World?
Matthew Diehr, 53 St. Louis U. L.J. 1287 (2009)
(An excerpt is below. To view the full text, please use Westlaw, Lexis, a law library or alternative source.)
[T]his Comment seeks to honestly discuss the impact the tort actions of wrongful birth and wrongful life–both premised as they are on the assertion that a fetus would have been aborted had the parents known of the fetus’ congenital condition–have on the disabled community and on society at large. Scholars have predicted the onset of defensive medicine as a result of wrongful birth and wrongful life actions. Arguably, ACOG’s recent Practice Guidelines represent such defensive medicine, insofar as it militates towards a standard of care without sufficient guarantees that expectant parents are receiving adequate information and counseling. This Comment attempts to explore the subsequent impact defensive medicine may have on informed consent and proposes some legislative solutions to eliminate the threat of legal action via wrongful birth and wrongful life actions and to further ensure accurate, non-directive genetic counseling.
