 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Agnes Howard reports in The Weekly Standard on new developments in prenatal screening. Last winter, it was reported that scientists had put together a "combination of maternal blood tests and ultrasounds to detect Down syndrome at 10-13 weeks," and a more recent report in Lancet argued for increasing access to such tests. The authors, led by Ryan A. Harris, don't want prenatal screening to be limited to high-risk mothers: "They content that women are much more worried about having a Down syndrome baby than they are about losing a normal baby to miscarriage after the test. The costs of the test, they argue, are amply repaind by either the reassurance that the baby is normal or the ability to avoid the difficulties of having a Down syndrome child."
On a recent Mars Hill interview with Ken Myers, Leon Kass pointed out how this kind of "advance" changes the "moral horizons" even for people who refuse to use the new technologies. The simple fact that such screening is possible means that anyone who refuses to do so must make a conscious decision; it takes an act of will for a mother to decide she doesn't want to screen her child, to pre-select it as a kind of quality control method. That is not only an act of will, but an act of countercultural and even "anti-progressive" will. Ultimately, the technology has the effect of sharpening the lines between those who receive children as gifts of God (or "nature" or something) and those who want to engineer bigger and better and more perfect children. All the more reason for Christians to be honing their skills in counter-cultural living.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, April 04, 2004 at 10:55 PM
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
