The religious authority frame
The religious authority frame is sometimes mobilised during
consultations. For some women, the underlying world order cannot be
reconciled with the possibility of losing a foetus due to a sample being
taken, and even less with a termination of pregnancy. Procreation is
seen as a gift from God; neither women nor doctors have the right to
change the course of the pregnancy.
In rare cases, couples explicitly refer to the religious authority frame
when the practitioner has finished speaking. “Stop all the tests.
I take full responsibility. Inshallah […] I want this baby,
Down Syndrome or not, no problem. It’s fate.” (African partner,
France). In other cases, it is the practitioners themselves who mobilise
this frame, to explore the woman’s opinion concerning the possibility of
terminating the pregnancy. In the Paris centre, this strategy is
frequently employed on women, who are assumed to be Muslims. Having
delivered the standard information on the risk of DS and of miscarriage
associated with taking a sample, the midwife asks the woman: