Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 12/16/2005 7:55:03 PM PST by NYer
ROME, DEC. 16, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Dr. Gerald Brungardt learned an unsettling fact when he came to Italy for an intensive weeklong course on bioethics.
The palliative care specialist from Wichita, Kansas, was surprised to learn that the average Italian woman has 12 sonograms during her pregnancy.
"It indicates our current fear of the non-perfect child," Brungardt said, "for which Dr. Bellieni has coined the term 'handiphobia' -- fear of the handicapped, the risks and realities of in vitro fertilization, embryo adoption, and neonatal/infant euthanasia."
He was referring to Dr. Carlo Bellieni, a neonatologist from Siena and self-described "fetus doctor" who teaches "The Myth of the Perfect Child" course during the week of studies at the Regina Apostolorum athenaeum's School of Bioethics.
A recurring theme in the many anecdotes Bellieni told his class of 80 students was how often parents reduce children to objects.
"We saw in this class how the child is no longer loved unconditionally and respected as a human person," said Dr. Laura Nino, a medical researcher from Houston, Texas, who participated in the course. Rather, the child is sometimes "seen as an object of possession which parents can dispose of when he or she falls short of their expectations," she added.
Amniocentesis
That sense of high expectations in parents can even lead to the death of perfectly healthy children in the womb.
Bellieni cited the example of prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome and the proliferation of the use of amniocentesis. That surgical procedure involves inserting a hollow needle through the abdominal wall into the uterus of a pregnant woman and extracting amniotic fluid, which may be analyzed to determine the sex of the developing fetus, or the presence of disease or genetic defects.
"A healthy fetus dies for every 200 amniocenteses done which, for 35-year-old woman, is about the same risk as having a Down syndrome child," observed Bellieni.
"This means that in order to eliminate one Down syndrome child, we accept the risk of the death of another innocent child as an adverse effect of the amniocentesis," he said.
Bellieni sees a deeper problem lurking behind the overuse of amniocentesis and the widespread tolerance of abortion. That problem touches on interpersonal relations and even self-image, all of which he talks of in almost philosophical language.
"I" of the storm
"Most fundamentally, we cannot say 'I' anymore because saying 'I' would mean that we have found someone who has called us by name and loved us only because we exist, not because of our utility," Bellieni contended.
"This loss of the capacity to say 'I' leads to our loss of the capacity to say 'You' to the fetus," he added. "We do not love ourselves anymore and therefore we cannot love others. We see others, including the fetus, as a means and not as the end they truly are. One of the consequences of this outlook would be neonatal euthanasia."
"The Myth of the Perfect Child" is only one of several bioethics courses offered recently at Regina Apostolorum. The weeklong courses are offered twice each semester, and once during the summer to accommodate non-traditional students working toward degrees in bioethics.
Now in its fifth year, the athenaeum's School of Bioethics boasts 350 students from 30 countries. Lay people -- including politicians and health-care professionals -- study side by side with religious.
One of the invited guest speakers for next April's intensive courses is Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, the new chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics in the United States. More information about the courses is posted at www.upra.org or available via bioethics@upra.com.
Among those who came to Rome this year to deepen their knowledge of science -- and the faith -- was Jennifer Miller of New York.
"Coming from Fordham University," she said, "I saw that scientists get so desensitized that they forget what they are really doing. There is a need to re-humanize science with a focus on human dignity."
Perfection is a stupid concept.
Anyone expecting perfection in this life is going to be disappointed.
Even as the baby is put into Maria's arms, page after page of data begins to appear on a monitor, pulsing warning signals throughout the spreadsheets.
Two assisting NURSES exchange a look. Antonio senses something amiss.
ANTONIO
What's wrong?
JEROME (VO)
Of course, there was nothing wrong with me. Not so long ago I would have been considered a perfectly healthy, normal baby. Ten fingers, ten toes. That was all that used to matter. But now my immediate well-being was not the sole concern.
Antonio turns his attention from his baby to the data appearing on the monitor. We see individual items highlighted amongst the data - "NERVE CONDITION - PROBABILITY 60%", "MANIC DEPRESSION - 42%", "OBESITY - 66%", "ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER - 89%"--
"A healthy fetus dies for every 200 amniocenteses done"
Are couples warned about this?
Before our son was born, we were given the option of genetic screening, noninvasive in nature. We learned that our baby might have heart disease, be short sighted, grow to be bald, and suffer from a mental illness.
With our second child's weight issues, she had genetic screening done for glucose intolerence. She carries that gene.
If ANY of these conditions arise in our children's lives, we will handle it. We don't see them as objects, they are gifts from God... for us to care for. And later, they will return to Him.
May God's richest blessings be on you and your children.
What are you talking about? I gave birth to perfection 6 weeks ago! LOL!
Thanks! She's amazing.
We skipped prenatal testing that checked for Down's Syndrome, etc. I didn't want to know because it really didn't matter. It just would have been something to learn more about once the child was born, if necessary. We did have the one sonogram done to see if it was a boy or girl. I like to shop sale racks and wanted to know what color to buy. :o)
The University of Chicago did a study about three years ago that tested IVF babies for genetic predispositions to cancer, diabetes, obesity, mental instability, schizophrenia, etc. It turned out, since very few people meet up to Western standards of genetic perfection, that something like 70% of the children were being "rejected," either from implantation as embryos, or from birth, a few weeks later.
Mount Sinai in New York found that a majority of parents chose to abort their child after discovering that he or she had a cleft lip or palate (4-D ultrasound was used).
According to the NIH, 70-90% of American infants with Down Syndrome are selectively aborted.
The freakish "selectivity" of Gattica is alive and well in our "reproductive" industry.
Oh no... you mean I wasn't?! ; )
Merry Christmas!
Martin Luther King had it nailed in the Birmingham Jail.... quoting Martin Buber, he says that the substitution of an I-thou relationship with an I-it relationship is the root of all oppression.
Read the Letter from the Birmingham Jail, substitute "abortion" for "segregation," and know what must be done.
http://www.nobelprizes.com/nobel/peace/MLK-jail.html
Anyone expecting perfection in this life is going to be disappointed."
Just you wait: in 150 years - give or take - it will become possible to write genomes, and to write them intelligently, with understanding of what it is one is writing. Then the parents would be able to compose a child with Einstein-like brain and Michelangelo's creativity - or maybe even better. While it might still be not quite perfect [who knows where the limits are?] - it would be WAY closer to perfection than where we stand now.>>
That just means that Auschwitz will be shown to be a mere prelude.
bump
No ... that is not the issue here. The implications are far more profound. Prenatal testing identifies probable birth defects, leaving parents the option to abort their child. In time, parents will be expected to terminate their child to spare society the burden of costly, lifetime, medical care. Mark my words; it's simply a question of years.
One local Knights of Columbus Council recently held a major fundraiser to assist a fellow Knight whose 3 month old daughter was diagnosed with a life threatening illness. The baby required a bone marrow donor and all medical expenses were covered by insurance. However, treatment was only available in another state and the father had to leave his job to accompany the family. The monies raised by the Knights were intended as financial support for their personal expenses over the next 4 months while the baby remains in isolation, following surgery.
Christmas was looking very bleak, especially for their 3 year old daughter. The Columbiettes (a K of C woman's group) adopted the family. I took the young family's "Christmas wish list" to work anticipating that others would want to reach out by purchasing an item on the list. Many did. But, it was the expression on some faces that set off an alarm. While no one verbalized it, they were thinking the family should have taken care of this problem 'before' the child was born. She was a burden on society and the family should be held responsible.
That is the slippery slope such testing has created.
Congratulations! on the birth of your daughter, Sam! Perfect, or otherwise, each child is a gift from God.
Listening to a broadcast of Archbishop Fulton Sheen awhile back, on Relevant Radio, and he spoke of this very thing.
Germany had the same plan in mind during the reign of Hitler.
And some of these groups who find Hitler appalling, now advocate some of the things he had put into practice.
Stunning... but then again the Devil works inside those who have no regard for God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.