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Last week France's highest appeals court ruled that children with Down syndrome have a legal right never to have been born and could sue doctors that attended the pregnancy. For parents like Forest, the ruling demonstrates a view, which she says is widespread in French society, that a disabled life is not worth living.
The judgment, which confirmed a previous ruling in a similar case, has caused a furor in France, sparking a national debate on a whole host of ethical issues. In their Nov. 28 ruling, three judges said that a doctor had negligently failed to warn an expectant mother that pre-natal scans showed that her baby had the symptoms of Down syndrome. The baby, who was only identified as Lionel, was born in 1995. His mother argued that she would have aborted if she had been given a correct pre-natal diagnosis.
Although most in France agree that the parents should receive financial aid for Lionel's specialized care, many are offended by the nature of the mother's grievance: that her son had been allowed to be born.
The judges in Lionel's case decided that the doctor was "100 percent" liable for the cost of the care needed for the child, since the diagnostic error meant that the mother was not given the chance to abort. The court had already awarded damages of around $100,000, five years earlier. Last week's ruling ordered the sum to be substantially increased. The exact amount is to be announced at the end of January.
Last week France's highest appeals court ruled that children with Down syndrome have a legal right never to have been born and could sue doctors that attended the pregnancy. For parents like Forest, the ruling demonstrates a view, which she says is widespread in French society, that a disabled life is not worth living.
The judgment, which confirmed a previous ruling in a similar case, has caused a furor in France, sparking a national debate on a whole host of ethical issues. In their Nov. 28 ruling, three judges said that a doctor had negligently failed to warn an expectant mother that pre-natal scans showed that her baby had the symptoms of Down syndrome. The baby, who was only identified as Lionel, was born in 1995. His mother argued that she would have aborted if she had been given a correct pre-natal diagnosis.
Although most in France agree that the parents should receive financial aid for Lionel's specialized care, many are offended by the nature of the mother's grievance: that her son had been allowed to be born.
The judges in Lionel's case decided that the doctor was "100 percent" liable for the cost of the care needed for the child, since the diagnostic error meant that the mother was not given the chance to abort. The court had already awarded damages of around $100,000, five years earlier. Last week's ruling ordered the sum to be substantially increased. The exact amount is to be announced at the end of January.
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