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Iceland is close to eliminating Down syndrome births due to widespread prenatal screening tests and nearly 100% of women choosing an abortion in the case of a positive test for Down syndrome:
With the rise of prenatal screening tests across Europe and the United States, the number of babies born with Down syndrome has significantly decreased, but few countries have come as close to eradicating Down syndrome births as Iceland.
Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women -- close to 100 percent -- who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy.
While the tests are optional, the government states that all expectant mothers must be informed about availability of screening tests, which reveal the likelihood of a child being born with Down syndrome. Around 80 to 85 percent of pregnant women choose to take the prenatal screening test, according to Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik.
[...] Other countries aren't lagging too far behind in Down syndrome termination rates. According to the most recent data available, the United States has an estimated termination rate for Down syndrome [open, DOI: 10.1002/pd.2910] [DX] of 67 percent (1995-2011); in France it's 77 percent (2015); and Denmark, 98 percent (2015). The law in Iceland permits abortion after 16 weeks if the fetus has a deformity -- and Down syndrome is included in this category.
The Prenatal Diagnosis link in the summary was replaced with a working version.
National Review has a counterpoint opinion piece about the CBSN article. Snopes has a page debunking inaccurate headlines about the article.
(Score: 4, Informative) by VLM on Thursday August 17 2017, @02:20PM (7 children)
Cafeteria dishwasher/server at a former employer. Nicest guy ever, and he loved his job because at his level that kind of work was satisfying for him.
It does bring up certain political / economic issues WRT automation, soon there aren't going to be many non-automated jobs left for people with an IQ over 80 or so. We'll never see IQ 150 people sweeping floors there's too many IQ 80 people to say nothing of all the IQ 100 people.
The powers that be seem to have the "solution" to the problem of demographic replacement, at least so far.
(Score: 3, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday August 17 2017, @02:41PM (3 children)
Yeah, I was swapping bodily fluids with a chick sitting at around 85 a couple years back. It was kinda refreshing. She was horribly wrong all the time but you never had to go through any mental gymnastics to figure out why she thought that way; it was always for the most obvious reason, without any nuance involved. The only thing about her that really got on my nerves was her penchant for watching reality TV. The big ole titties made up for that though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @05:05PM
An extreme lack of intelligence is a bit of boner-killer for me. Airheadedness and obliviousness are tolerable if they aren't too talkative, but very low intelligence seems to trigger a disgust response in me.
I remember trying to give a girl directions to my place:
Me: Where are you coming from?
Rocks for brains: I don't know. We've stopped somewhere
Me: Where are you?
Waste of oxygen: We're next to a white truck.
Me: What street are you on?
Would try to put out a fire with gasoline, since it's wet: I'm not sure, but we're next to a big white truck.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Thursday August 17 2017, @06:13PM (1 child)
Is Ethanol-fueled your sock-puppet account?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @07:27PM
Would not be surprised, but uzzy maintains he only uses the one account and never posts as AC. Then again he's been caught spinning half-truths, outright lies, and generally can't be trusted as a self-described troll so YMMV.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday August 17 2017, @04:39PM (2 children)
Hey, mine's 145 according to that chart that matches up your GRE and SAT scores with IQ (and note I studied for neither of those) and one of my jobs entails plenty of mopping, sweeping, etc. No one is "too intelligent" for that kind of work. You take what you can get in this economy.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday August 17 2017, @08:03PM
A lot of places get into the "overqualified" thing to refuse hiring, so you're lucky, in a weird situation perhaps.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 17 2017, @09:13PM
What's even more wrong is that people even take IQ seriously in the first place, and especially so for people who are otherwise really dismissive (rightly, I think) of the social sciences.