Christian Doc Doubts Intentions Behind New Pre-Natal Test for Down Syndrome
by Mary Rettig
November 17, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A new test allows pregnant women in their first trimester to find out if their babies have Down syndrome. The associate executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations questions some of the motives behind the test.Pro-life and pro-family leaders are raising ethical concerns about a new prenatal test for Down syndrome now being used in a study by the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. A U.S. agency within the National Institutes of Health has provided $15 million to fund the study over eight years. The Washington Post has reported on the new test, quoting a member of the Royal College as saying the prenatal procedure will "have a big impact on care for women" and that those "who would opt to terminate a pregnancy based on the results would be able to do so much earlier, when abortion is less risky and less traumatic."
Dr. Gene Rudd acknowledges that there are reasons to test pre-born babies for any diseases or abnormalities. He says it can allow parents to better prepare for raising the child. He also applauds the Irish researchers for improving diagnostic technology.
"[T]here's nothing intrinsically wrong with improving the technology," Rudd says. "My concern is ... where are we going with this? What is our goal? Are we looking as a society to develop a paradigm or a philosophy that we want to seek and destroy all the pre-born babies with disabilities?"
Rudd worries that the test is simply to mark those babies for destruction through abortion. "If we're just doing that test to see how many babies we can identify that have a disability for the purpose of terminating their lives, that's not consistent with a civilized society," the Christian physician says.
Rudd says individuals cannot use the excuse that people with Down syndrome have a poor quality of life because he says they seem to be "pro-programmed" with a joyful view of life.
The CMDA spokesman notes that the number of births of Down syndrome children in recent years is already down dramatically -- most likely due to abortions, he adds. He contends the test will just allow the abortions to occur earlier in the child's development.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
