Both the 1932 novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and the 1997 science fiction movie “Gattaca” are classified as dystopias because they depict societies riddled with misery, tragedy, and a dehumanizing culture. Both attribute this decline in civilization to manipulations of human genetics and perversions of human reproduction. In Brave New World the traditional […]
Today more and more people are whole-heartedly embracing eugenics. They probably don’t know it as eugenics, but every time a human life in the womb or in the lab is cut short because his or her genetics is not up to snuff, that is undoubtedly eugenics. Many associate the eugenics of old with a lack […]
This week I read a very disturbing article titled “New prenatal test is bringing eugenics back to Germany” , and I could not help but think of the famous quote from American philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” This month a new prenatal blood test for Down […]
I hate to be so sensational, but I think it is important for parents to understand that your child’s DNA maybe stored in a state government facility and you have no idea. Impossible, you say? You know that heel stick that your child got in the hospital right after birth? Some states keep and catalog […]
A response to the many queries I’ve been receiving about this topic: The technological genie is out of the bottle. We live in the age of Molecular Biology, where diagnostics (including those for Down Syndrome) are becoming much more accurate, sensitive, and inexpensive. It’s a blessed thing to behold. That may come as a surprise […]
Part of the recently upheld Affordable Care Act that many in the disability community applaud is the elimination of policy exclusions for pre-existing conditions. I agree that our culture should not discriminate against and withhold heath care from an individual based on a physical or mental disability. Early Intervention services, exceptional educators, and medical advances […]
A recent headline proclaiming the great advances science has made in detecting genetic defects in preborn children sent a chill down my pro-life spine. Proclaiming the incredible news that a day is upon us when scientists will be able to run genetic tests that will identify more than 3,500 genetic irregularities, the reporter echoed a concern raised […]
For 30 years, the U.S. Patent Office has been issuing patents for naturally occurring genes. About a fourth of our genes are patented by companies who are looking to make a profit off of a molecule we naturally make in our bodies. Objects of nature are not patentable so genes should not be patentable either. […]
I have found that many Catholics are confused about genetic testing and the ethical issues that surround it. So I have decided to write a two part series on the ethics of genetic testing. Part 1: Genetic testing is not all bad. Many Catholics are wary of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and genetic testing, […]
I do not know what it’s like to lose a child and I hope and pray I never do. All my children, and now grandchildren, are healthy and strong. My family is truly blessed and I try not to forget that fact. There are expectant parents who face the terrible reality that their baby will be […]
Recently, local media covered the story of Amelia Rivera, a young girl with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome reportedly denied a kidney transplant by a local hospital. Amelia’s syndrome results in serious developmental delays, and according to her parents, the hospital declined a transplant due to her diminished mental ability and shortened lifespan. It’s unwise to assume that […]
As word spread of a new non-invasive, highly accurate prenatal test for Down syndrome, MaterniT21, the headlines could hardly have been more sensational: The End of Down Syndrome! Will We Cull Those with Down Syndrome? Are Kids with Down Syndrome on the Road to Extinction? This mainstream response seems to suggest a terrible acknowledgment of what happens […]
One of my pet peeves was brought to mind by World AIDS Day. Not that I oppose finding a cure for HIV. I was a social worker when AIDS emerged in the eighties. I helped a young man with HIV who was kicked out of the Greenwich Village loft that he had shared with his […]
Manic: affected with, relating to, characterized by, or resulting from mania There is no other word that better defines man’s desire to perfect man than the mania that drives so many to eliminate human imperfection by killing human beings. This craving has gripped the very core of those we have come to identify as the […]
