Arg definitely believes what he says. There's too much corroborating evidence to prove otherwise. Everyone else could think it's entertainment that's cool, but I don't. Not trying to be mean or a wet blanket, but just like when everyone gets their panties in a bunch when Mort (sorry Mort!) says something (not even offensive, tbh) about cis white males, I'm going to have mine in a bunch too when people are talking offensively about minorities.
I truly think some people just need some assistance and with the right assistance they can be self sufficient. There's nothing wrong with receiving help when you need it. Whenever you get your self situated DD you can choose whatever kind of life you prefer, don't let anyone dictate your life/happiness when you have situated yourself.
I came back too late, to respond to HB and to not shit this thread up too much after this post I'm pretty much done.
Warning: this is long. my bad.
@HB:
So you're saying you can't breed specific things out (i.e. Down Syndrome) just try to avoid it? Disabilities are inevitable. You can try avoiding it through "screening and shaming" all you want, but they will happen. We do not have control of our environment or genetics (or a combination of). How far are you willing to go with that? Things like ADD/ADHD that are becoming more and more common-- are they not allowed to live either? With things like this you run the risk of making a decision based on incorrect information and discredited scientific theories (because theories are constantly changing anyways), and will be in conflict with many philosophical principles of the American government system. Essentially, if you take away the rights of one group, you make it easier to justify taking away the rights of other groups as well.
There is a really great article that explains Buck V. Bell. But it's basically a ruling that was used to justify sterilization of people with "disabilities" and the "unfit" in order to eliminate defectives from the gene pool. They, of course, took advantage of this and abused it and sterilized people under the guise of "feeblemindedness" (which literally could mean anything). This law, to my knowledge at least, isn't even overruled because the government perhaps believe in extreme cases sterilization is necessary. However, I'm not arguing about extreme/specific cases. I'm arguing that if a family wants to have a child and are having complications but still go through with it they should be able to regardless if their child comes out with a disability.
Placing stereotypes on people with disabilities is just ridiculous. Every individual is unique. That original law came out because someone with a disability stole a chicken, so they decided to sterilize him. Would they have sterilized for crimes such as embezzlement? Probably not, so there's a giant hole right there. These sort of mandated sterilizations, screenings or whatever shape or form you'd want it to take to deter people who may have a child with some form of disability won't eliminate "mistakes." Maybe just the ones that seem more obvious.
Also, what you're proposing is quite absurd (the whole idea of shaming a woman if she wants to have a kid that has a chance of being disabled). The kid and the family are going to have a tragic life, according to whom? To stereotypes? Because the existence of a disability appears to you to be an overwhelming tragedy, a life filled with suffering and frustration? Sure, disabled people suffer and become frustrated, but so do non-disabled people. There are many carefully done studies which show that things like divorce or death cause more pain, suffering, and tragedy in the lives of disabled people than the existence of a disability.
There's already a shit ton of stigma out there, why should people be encouraged to add on to that? That's not only unproductive but encourages people to be ignorant. Teaching and giving people tools to become an active member of society is the only productive way in assisting those who have a disability. No one can dictate what someone else is or will be capable of, so the only best thing to do is to allow for them to participate and to not perpetuate stereotypes because there are many successful disabled people.
