Saturday, August 2, 2014

Going for a Trifecta in Ethical Issues Tonight

Australian couple abandons baby with Down's Syndrome and leaves the kid with a poverty-stricken woman without a care as to whether it lives or dies.  (BBC:  Australian couple abandon surrogate Down's Syndrome baby)

Kill the fuckers, yes?

Go easy, cowboy.  It's not that easy.

It doesn't appear the Australian couple ever even saw the baby and the reason the baby was born is a surrogacy agreement with the couple.  A woman in Thailand was paid to be the surrogate mother.  When it was clear at four months the fetus has Down's Syndrome, the couple requested the surrogate mother abort the pregnancy.

The Thai woman refused as abortion is contrary to her religion.  There's nothing in the article to indicate any subsequent contact with the Australian couple.

As things stand now, there is a public funding happening to help the Thai woman raise the baby who, at six months, has severe congenital heart problems.  This has raised a substantial amount of money so the matter of care of the baby may be resolved or getting that way.

So how the fuck can this happen.

The legal sleaze will happily tell you there's an abort clause in the contract.  The Thai woman failed to honor it so her foul.  Game over.

The contract means nothing as the Australian couple was in violation of the law right off the top.  By Thai law, a surrogate mother has to be related to the couple and it's illegal to take money for it, in any case.  Heya, sleazebag lawyer, game on.

The law doesn't even come close to the ethical matter here as what the hell was this couple doing entering into an agreement with a woman by bribing her with what is, to her, enough money to send her children to college.  The woman knows it is illegal but they throw riches at her.

From what I see of this, the couple has disgraced the noble act of surrogate motherhood.  The Thai woman has disgraced it as well but I'm more inclined toward leniency as who could resist such temptation for something that doesn't seem much of a crime.  The willfulness and selfishness of the Australian couple has resulted in a life that never would have been and it's in a deep state of suffering.

So, cowboy.  You were right at the top.  Kill the fuckers.

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