Researchers at the University of Washington have been able to map the genetic blueprint of an unborn baby using only a blood sample from the mother and the saliva from the father. It sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, yet it is science fact that we can do genetic screening using high speed DNA sequencing.
Welcome to the future in which doctors can (with 98 percent accuracy) screen a fetus for more than 3,000 genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy. But since we cannot treat or cure many of these genetic conditions, genetic screening has become a tool for a “search and destroy mission.”
Thirty years ago when I wrote my book on Genetic Engineering, I pointed out that the doctors using scientific tools like amniocentesis could determine some genetic defects, but the doctors could not cure the genetic conditions they discovered. Fast forward to today. We have more sophisticated techniques to discover a genetic blueprint of the unborn, but we still cannot cure most of these conditions. Parents are, therefore, more likely than ever to choose abortion.
I recently had medical ethicist Ben Mitchell on my radio program to talk about this new advance. He explained that because of genetic screening for Down syndrome, 90 percent of children with this condition are never born.
He also reminded us that the Bible has quite a bit to say about people with disabilities. The blind, the deaf, the mute, and the lame are often mentioned in one way or another. The Holiness Code prohibited cursing the deaf or putting a stumbling block before the blind (Lev. 19:4). Isaiah taught that despite any impairment, the faithful will receive everlasting blessings (Isaiah 56:3-5). And Jesus taught in the Parable of the Great Banquet that He will invite “the poor, the crippled, the lamb, and the blind” to the feast (Luke 14:11-14).
The battle today is between two worldviews. One focuses on the quality of life and permits us to “weed out” the undesirables. The other is based on the sanctity of all human life because every person is created in the image of God.