Monday, January 31, 2011

Death by Medical Breakthrough

by Chuck Colson
Mon Jan 31, 2011 11:22 EST



Seventy-five years ago the Nazis targeted the disabled and the weak for extermination. Most of us now recognize as evil the idea that some people are less worthy of life than others. But, tragically, eugenics never seems to go away completely. It keeps coming back with a new name - such as “medical breakthrough.”



Exhibit “A” is an article on the ABC News website entitled, “New Down Syndrome Test Could Cut Healthy Baby Deaths.” Lynn Harris describes how, pregnant in her late 30s, she underwent a test at twelve weeks to learn if her baby had Down syndrome. The baby was perfectly healthy - but the test - called Chorionic Villus Sampling - ended up killing him.



But now there’s a blood test that can be performed in the first trimester—one that does not carry the risk of more invasive testing. It can detect Down syndrome with 100 percent accuracy, and can do so, according to one geneticist, “without any risk to the pregnancy.” Click "Here" for the complete story.



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This is a very interesting article written by Chuck Colson relating to the advancement of medical breakthroughs, or in this case should we call it "eugenics", to determine the fate of a child born with Down syndrome.



We need to gather together and pray that our medical breakthroughs and medical advancements will always be used to bring glory to God and the preservation of human life. When these medical breakthroughs promote the advancement and justification of abortions or the premature death of an elderly or terminally ill person, then we are on the verge of another holocaust.

24 comments:

Mary said...

Chilling, indeed.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately there are many such "medical breakthroughs" happening today. We do need to always stand for life no matter what so called medical experts are saying. Thanks for the article!

Me said...

I agree with God Thinker, we need to stand up for life nomatter what. Great blog post today.

Ian Curtis said...

Eugenics is the brainchild of evolution. Simply put, if evolution is true, then there is nothing immoral about eugenics because morality is a social invention and changes with society. If evolution is false, then eugenics is, and always has been, man's effort to play God since we dismissed Him from His universe.
Eugenics is in my opinion, one of the many rotten fruit evolution has graced this world with. Thanks for the insights, Lloyd. Ian.

IanH said...

Lloyd, this is very disturbing! Whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath? There have been many great names in history that never would have "made it" in today's world simply because they were different. Seems to me the medical profession is trying to play God.

Clint said...

Excellent point and good food for thought. God bless.

Sr Crystal Mary Lindsey said...

Hello Lloyd, I feel medicine is trying to be God.. It is chilling to think pig is used in humans although I suppose if you are not in the profession you don't realise. Insulin for one thing.
I have put a little insight of yourself on my new Blog.
God Bless.

Galen Pearl said...

Thanks for following my blog! Your blog has a great design and and an even greater message!

JT said...

Medical breakthroughs are wonderful. It makes me wonder what will be next. God Bless You.

Ibifiri Kamson said...

really sad..
www.secretlilies.blogspot.com

Ang said...

Thanks for your wonderful comment on my blog! Much appreciated! I just read this article and I'm not surprised. When I was pregnant with my son, they asked us if we wanted to test for Down's Syndrome. We declined, since it would not have made a difference whether or not we had him. It breaks my heart to think of all the innocent babies who don't get a chance at life. Thanks for sharing this article!

Donald Fishgrab said...

God promised Israel that if they would obey him he would protect them from the diseases of their day. Many of the diseases of today are directly related to the modern lifestyle. I wonder how much disease would disappear if we simply obeyed God, reducing the need for healthcare?

The healthcare bill congress passed, contains specific provisions euthanasia. The problems are a direct result of our society's attitude, just as are the shootings such as that of Congresswoman Gifford.

Mari Nuñez said...

One very good reason to include in our prayer, I didn't think about it before. Love the example you gave us.

Thanks for the info.

Have a great day :)

Anastasius Widjaya said...

Pray for health in America that Jesus realy-realy make a miracle for a unhealthy people in america. All lesbian and gay will know that all of them is unhealthy. They will know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and God.

Mazzou said...

I saw your comment on my blog, and want to thank you for following my blog! I hope my blog can be a blessing to fellow Christians, like you, in the future!

Greetings from Niecy said...

We do need to always stand for life no matter what. We all need to love each other and show compassion as Our Lord shows compassion towards us. Great Post My Brother in Christ.
God Bless Always,
Niecy

Geoff Maritz said...

I find it deplorable that anyone would even consider terminating a pregnancy for any reason whatsoever. I have a few friends here in Cape town who have children with Downs Syndrome. These children are so amazing and so loving that it would break my heart if their families decided to murder them. When you pray to the Lord and ask for wheels are you upset if he gives you a bicycle?
Love to you my friend. Geoff.

Crazy Life of a Writing Mom said...

Wow! So sad. I had a baby with birth defects several years ago. The doctors begged us to have an abortion, but I refused. My baby died 2 1/2 months after being born. Even though it was terribly hard I know his life was worth saving-not aborting. I wrote a book detailing the whole experience and have now started a blog to try and prove to publishers that I have a platform. More people need to realize that God's hand is there for us even in the hard times. It's not always easy to do the right thing, but with God by our side we can make it through anything!

ecwrites.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Thanks for following my blog! I pray that my blog can be a blessing to fellow Christians, like you, now, future and forever.

Anonymous said...

“Unfortunately there are many such "medical breakthroughs" happening today. We do need to always stand for life no matter what so called medical experts are saying. Thanks for the article!”

- You need to stand for life no matter what? So I hope you are against the death penalty!

But what do mean by this reactionary nonsense about being against medical breakthroughs? Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am not in favor ‘eugenic’ testing for the simple reason my best friend has a genetic abnormality, relies on a wheelchair to get around. Though also has a good job, paid his mortgage off at 40 and holds a doctorate from a good private university. That said, it is easy to sit at our computers and impose burdens on your neighbor that you might be unwilling to shoulder yourself. You might think differently when you have a child with Down’s Syndrome - and there are far worse disabilities and defects (see: http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/HumanBioogy/birth_defects.htm (not for the squeamish)). And of course it is easy to say ‘Thou shalt not…’ when you don’t have to care a severely disabled child… When you’re enrolled at a fostering and adoption agency, specifically asking to adopt a disabled child because the mother can’t cope, then I might be a little more sympathetic to your view that ALL abortion is wrong. Or at least if you have chosen to regularly donate money to an organization that cares for disabled people, it would be a start!

It is funny how you religious types reject medical breakthroughs yet how many of you go running off to the doctor when you’re ill? There is academic evidence that demonstrates that, ironically, religious people are far more likely to want more and more treatment in terminal disease, even when that treatment severely compromises quality of life (see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/health/research/18faith.html - though there are more authoritative papers in academic journals). Odd that, isn’t it? You’d think Christians would be eager to ‘pass-on’, but this doesn’t seem the case. Medical breakthroughs are how we have cancer treatment and I bet there are few you who have posted here who would refuse cancer treatment, or a heart by-pass or dialysis? All these are medical breakthroughs that allow doctors to ‘Act as God’ – continuing life when might it just be God’s Will that a person has cancer and should reject ‘medical breakthroughs’. But this doesn’t happen. In fact if Matt 10: 26-31 was so true, then why is it with medical breakthroughs and science, people live longer. Surely if life and death are in the hands of God, a doctor’s role wouldn’t increase life expectancy, but we keep getting older, way beyond our three score years and ten.

Yet here some argue against medical breakthroughs! Well I just hope, if you are ever unfortunate enough to be in the situation that you can stick to your principals and say to the doctor: “Unfortunately there are many such "medical breakthroughs" happening today. We do need to always stand for life being in God’s hands no matter what so called medical experts are saying…” and walk out of the hospital with your integrity in tact…

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

Anonymous - Thank you for your visit and lengthy comment. However, if you would look closely at the article and other comments….NOBODY is against medical breakthroughs. What people have a hard time condoning is using medical breakthroughs to DESTROY human life for the convenience of someone else who feels that they may be burdened. Blessings, Lloyd

Suely Rezende - Ministério HD said...

Olá querido irmão!!

graça e Paz!!!

Um abençoado domingo.

Sempre Ă© bom estar aqui,

Deus abençoe
Suely

T.J. said...

First off, thanks so much for signing on to Any Given Moment! I'm happy to have you and even happier to be your newest follower.

I decided to comment on this post rather than above because it so speaks to me. I cringe whenever I hear about "break throughs" such as these. When My husband and I had our son, we opted out of these kinds of test because we knew that no matter the outcome, we were going to see the baby through, God willing. I now have a happy health 2.5 year old :)

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

Suely - Thank you for your visit and kind comments. Grace and peace be with you also my sister in Christ.

T.J. - Thank you for the visit and heartfelt comments regarding this post. I think maybe these medical tests are a blessing if the information you get prepares you for what might happen. But if the tests are used as a way of eliminating a child that may not be quite what you wanted, then the tests are a curse. God bless.