Enzo Aya
Department of Medical Ethics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Glob Bioeth. 2024 Sep 2;35(1):2398299. doi: 10.1080/11287462.2024.2398299. eCollection 2024.
The Japanese government and medical professionals have negative attitudes toward the provision of prenatal testing and related information due to social concern regarding discrimination against persons with disabilities. However, with the rapid increase in the number of non-invasive prenatal tests, particularly at non-certificated medical facilities, in response to the growing demand from pregnant women, the Japanese government and medical professional associations have enacted radical changes marking an active commitment to the provision of information on these services. While a major justification for these policy changes is to ensure respect for reproductive autonomy and women's self-determination, they may reinforce the concern regarding discrimination. This article investigated the argument that these new policies may reinforce discrimination and examined three objections to this argument. The results revealed that the recent policy changes, particularly for specific fetal traits, may imply a negative belief about people living with the same traits. Consequently, fundamental institutional changes are necessary.
由于社会对残疾人歧视问题的关注,日本政府和医学专业人士对提供产前检测及相关信息持消极态度。然而,随着非侵入性产前检测数量的迅速增加,特别是在未经认证的医疗机构,以满足孕妇日益增长的需求,日本政府和医学专业协会已做出重大改变,积极致力于提供这些服务的信息。虽然这些政策变化的一个主要理由是确保尊重生殖自主权和妇女的自决权,但它们可能会加剧对歧视的担忧。本文研究了这些新政策可能加剧歧视的观点,并审视了对此观点的三个反对意见。结果表明,最近的政策变化,特别是针对特定胎儿特征的变化,可能意味着对具有相同特征的人群存在负面看法。因此,进行根本性的制度变革是必要的。