Attitudes Toward Selective Abortion: The Role of Prenatal Diagnosis and Prognosis

Objective To study variation in moral attitudes toward selective abortion in cases of prenatal diagnosis of a disability in the general population. Methods 926 participants completed a survey in which they expressed their moral views regarding a person's decision to have an abortion following a prenatal diagnosis of a disability. Results people morally endorsed selective abortion over the control condition (no diagnosis of disability); diagnoses of motor disability and sensorial disabilities were associated with stronger support for selective abortion; variations in prognoses about the expected social relationality and physical pain did not alter substantially the moral acceptance of selective abortion. Conclusions: people view selective abortion after a prenatal diagnosis of a disability as more morally acceptable than abortion without a diagnosis; however, predicting future impairments does not appear to influence support for pregnancy termination.