New Prenatal Test Brings Eugenics Back to Germany

New Prenatal Test Will Bring Eugenics Back to Germany [Excerpts]

A new controversial prenatal blood test for Down syndrome, developed by biotech company LifeCodexx, launched this month in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. It seems that we are in for another life protection scandal in Europe, and possibly for the return of mainstream eugenics to German-speaking Europe.

The new PrenaTest is “targeted exclusively toward women in their 12th week of pregnancy and beyond who are at an increased risk” of having a child with Down syndrome. Interestingly, the test doesn’t replace amniocentesis. LifeCodexx calls it “a complement to other prenatal diagnostic analysis methods.” But what this test really does is put unborn children with Down syndrome at increased risk for abortion.

And it won’t stop there. “In the near future, the PrenaTest will also be able to identify other chromosomal mutations such as trisomy 13 and 18,” said Dr. Michael Lutz, CEO of LifeCodexx. The goal seems to be a society free of “imperfections.”

The German Down Syndrome Information Centre puts it well: “People with trisomy 21 will, in the long run, be the first people with a different genetic makeup to disappear from our society, and with the tacit approval of the majority.” The Bioethics Commission of the German Bishops’ Conference also spoke publicly of the ethical and social consequences at issue. They warn that with the widespread adoption of PrenaTest, the threshold “for the targeted annihilation of unwanted people will massively be reduced.”

The history of eugenics in German-speaking Europe is well documented, and need not be recounted here. In that dark time, as now, the dignity of human life was not recognized or vigorously protected by law. We know that already around 90% of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome never leave their mother’s womb alive. This new test will only make it easier to choose abortion.

It is time to take serious measures to prohibit the test because this is only the beginning of society’s moral descent towards a new dimension of eugenics. But more than this particular test, what must be rejected is the idea that those who have physical, genetic or health issues do not deserve a chance at life. That is the real battle that must be won here in Europe, and around the world.

(Joannes Bucher, "New Prenatal Test Will Bring Eugenics Back to Germany, Washington, DC, LifeNews.com, 8/28/12)