rmful effects of multiple births on the physical health of the mother and the possible psychological and practical consequences for both parents." Many couples with high risk pregnancies choose not to use selective reduction in their pregnancy. What results from that decision varies greatly. Some couples have all of their children, and they are healthy, yet small. Other couples loose some of the fetuses and have only a few of the children they had planned on. Still other couples loose all of the babies, and sometimes have no other chance to produce children. Multiple births are a great physical stress on the mother; in some cases, the mother delivers all of the children and she herself dies. These are a few of the possibilities, there are many others when dealing with high risk multiple pregnancies. The world Medical Association says, "If . . . the prognosis for the fetuses is so unfavorable that in order to improve the survival of the remaining embryos, procedures of a selective abortion of embryos might be considered." Many times a woman has to decide which is more important, her life, the life of some of her fetuses, or the life of all of her fetuses. This is a very hard decision, and a lot of women regret the decisions they make in this situation. A woman has the right to choose whether or not to use selective abortion, but no one has the right to tell her not to. Selective reduction in high risk multiple birth pregnancies should be an open option for expecting mothers. The risks involved for the fetuses and the pregnant women should not be taken lightly by anyone. Selective reduction should not be used to choose what kind of baby you want, but it should be considered if there is a risk of losing all of the fetuses or the mother. Selective reduction is the abortion of a potential baby, and the decision to use it should be well thought out. The decision of whether or not to use selective reduction has infinite ramifications, and it...
