SELECTIVE ABORTION - A NEW MORAL ORDER - CONSENSUS AND DEBATE IN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY

The authors discuss the results of a survey of the attitudes of Canadi an and French (Picardie, Nord-Pas de Calais) physicians toward selecti ve abortion of fetal anomalies detected by ultrasound, amniocentesis, or choronic villus sampling. The study documents the threshold of acce ptability of abortion of fetuses with selected anomalies, as well as t he physicians' own perceptions of their role in the decision to abort. While there was no consensus among all Canadian physicians regarding the acceptability of abortion, more than 55 percent from France and Qu ebec would accept selective abortion of a fetus affected with trisomy 21, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's chorea, or spina bifida. In the province of Quebec, Anglophone physicians sho wed a greater acceptance of abortion than did their French-speaking co lleagues. In reference to the physician's role in the decision to abor t, French physicians are more directive than North American physicians . Cultural predispositions may explain these differences in attitudes.