Were We Talking About Eugenics?
Dr. Sullivan, at soulfulbioethics.blogspot.com, has posted an interesting topic this week. He brings our attention to Elizabeth Schiltz, a Minnesota law professor, who has made the "renegade" decision to bear a Down's Syndrome son, against medical advice. The link he provides to the Business Week article by Schiltz is even more interesting. She suggests we are in danger of "Eugenics by Default," the result being an emerging culture of "perfection" where our compassion will have less and less opportunity for exercise. Apparently, somebody in 2000 made a list of comparative costs to society of various disabilities. Down's Syndrome, $400,000; Spina Bifida $294,000; Cleft Lip or Palate $101,000. Will we enter an age where our perceived value is inversely related to our "cost to society?" Help!
5 Comments:
A resounding no! I do not believe we will enter into an age where the worth of human beings is determined using a cost-benefit analysis. Perhaps it is my inherent optimism or my belief in humanity. Not in the humanist sense, but in the sense of belief in people.
We, as a society and as a world-population, have survived various waves of genocide, infanticide, ethnic cleansing, and eugenic programs since before the days of Moses. And today, I know not one person(Christian or not) who does not find the idea of placing a dollar figure on the worth of a person repugnant. So, no, I do not believe society will come to that point.
Abortion has been legal for 30 years, now. Have people stopped giving birth to babies with Down's Syndrome? With cleft lip? With heart defects? So, be encouraged, and have faith.
That the human race will probably survive, barring Christ's return, I'll grant you. That we will not become "scientific" to the extent of killing those who seem to be of no benefit (or considerable cost) to society as a whole I will not grant. Economical and societal scare tactics become very convincing arguments in "objective, scientific" circles.
It would be interesting to see statistics regarding the numbers of aborted babies who have been diagnosed with birth defects. I wouldn't be surprised to see that the percentage of aborted babies with diagnoses in an educated American population was way out of proportion to simple "unwanted" pregnancies.
A little googling informed me that up to 80% of pre-natally diagnosed Down's Syndrome babies are aborted. In the latest year's statistics available (2002) not only were 8 cleft-lip-and-palate children aborted, but 2 for cleft lip alone!! In Britain, where abortions past 24 weeks are outlawed, courts refused to prosecute the doctors involved in a 28-week abortion of a cleft child, presumably justifying it because of the "severity of handicap". At least there are lots of people outraged about such things!
I am surely outraged. Yet, I do believe that God has the fate of the world firmly in his grasp and control. The only time in history when He condemned the human race to its stupidity and sin was the Flood, after which He made a covenant that He would never bring such punishment to the earth again. I do believe that people are often selfish and short-sighted, and frequently place their hope in things that cannot save them (such as science). People frequently make decisions that waste lives needlessly and senselessly. However, God has ever and again saved the world from its sin.
Ruth, well put. How I appreciate a merciful God!
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