Next week, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as president of the United States. There will be parties, cameras, a ceremony, and a parade. The world will watch and celebrate. In politics, revolutions are clearly marked.
Social revolutions that emerge from science, however, are often overlooked. One of those revolutions is happening right now, a week before Obama’s inauguration, across the Atlantic Ocean.
“First baby tested for breast cancer form BRCA1 before conception born in UK,” says the press release from University College London. “The first baby tested preconceptionally for a genetic form of breast cancer (BRCA1) has been born.” The release quotes Paul Serhal, medical director of the hospital’s Assisted Conception Unit: “This little girl will not face the specter of developing this genetic form of breast cancer or ovarian cancer in her adult life. The parents will have been spared the risk of inflicting this disease on their daughter. The lasting legacy is the eradication of the transmission of this form of cancer that has blighted these families for generations.”
It’s happy news. But let’s take a closer look at the announcement, starting with the test “before conception.” This baby was tested as an embryo in a dish. She was one of 11 such embryos made by injecting drugs in the mother to stimulate production of excess eggs, which were then fertilized with the father’s sperm. Six of the embryos had the gene for breast cancer. Three more had “other abnormalities.” All nine were “discarded.” The other two were implanted, and one became this baby.
In sum, at least six human embryos were made and then thrown away because they failed a test. We now call such tests “preconception.” This is the next step in our gradual devaluation of embryos. First, we said IVF embryos weren’t pregnancies. That’s technically correct: Pregnancy begins when the embryo implants in the womb. Then we called early embryos “pre-embryos” so we could dismantle them to get stem cells. That was technically incorrect, but we did it because it made us feel better. Now we’re adjusting the word conception. Henceforth, testing of IVF embryos to decide which will live or die is preconception. Don’t fret about the six eggs we fertilized, rejected, and flushed in selecting this baby. They were never really conceived. In fact, they weren’t embryos. According to Serhal, each was just “an affected cluster of cells.”
Hat tip: Branford
The entire article is available here.
The switch in the nomenclature was made in the early IVF days to allow getting around the reality that life begins at fertilization of the egg by the sperm. What used to be called conception. The new nomenclature redefines pregnancy beginning at implantation which is now called conception. The confusion is purposely generated to allow IVF modalities to proceed. This is just the eugenics application of what has been going on in America since Baby Brown’s being the first “test tube baby”.
Of course, the fallacy is obvious. The union of the egg and sperm to yield the zygote is the true origin of the embryo - not the implantation. In fact, the zygote is a one cell embryo from which all the other cells arise and which result in the baby. We are all zygotes who survived and made it - with all our genetic defects and imperfections. So was the Lord a zygote.
See http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon9.html -
“This sure is matter of love; but came there any good to us by it? There did. For our conception being the root as it were, the very groundsill of our nature; that He might go to the root and repair of our nature from the very foundation, thither He went; that what had been there defiled and decayed by the first Adam, might by the Second be cleansed and set right again. That had our conception been stained, by Him therefore, primum ante omnia, to be restored again. He was not idle all the time He was an embyro - all the nine months He was in the womb; but then and there He even ate out the core of corruption that cleft to our nature and us, and made both us and it an unpleasing object in the sight of God.
“And what came of this? We who were abhorred by God, filii irae was our title, were by this means made beloved in Him. He cannot, we may be sure, account evil of that nature, that is now become the nature of His own Son - His now no less than ours. Nay farther, given this privilege to the children of such as are in Him, though but of one parent believing, that they are not as the seed of two infidels, but are in a degree holy, eo ipso; and have a farther right to the laver of regeneration, to sanctify them throughout by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. This honour is to us by the dishonour of Him; this the good by Christ an embyro.”
Wonder He would have made it past the eugenics selection criteria?
Dr.Josef Mengele would be proud.
AP+
You are so very spot on, Papist. And it is a very sad fact that those involved in this evil practice may get to meet Mengele in the future.
January is Sanctity of Life Month.
This Sunday, January 18, is Sanctity of Life Sunday.
A pastor’s silence on this issue creates the illusion that it is not important to God (Wrong), that the Word of God is silent on this issue (Wrong again) and that the Christian’s own discretion, reasoning, feelings and conscience can adequately inform their decision. (NOPE)
The mind, heart and emotions do not make reliable guides. They must be informed and formed by the Word of God, the whole counsel of Scripture in the Old and New Testament, The Holy Spirit and the Doctrines of the Church of the ages. (See Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21.)
Look for ways to take a stand for the Sanctity of Life. Join an Anglicans for Life chapter or take part in a 40 Days For Life peaceful silent prayer vigil being organized in a city near you during Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday.
Anglicans for Life:
http://www.anglicansforlife.org/index/
40 Days For Life:
http://40daysforlife.com/welcome.cfm
Egad. Playing God are we…bad idear. I hear there is really only supposed to be one, and He’s of the “all powerful” variety.
amazing how we can convince ourselves that what is good for me in the present is good….its all about me thinking
Floridian, thanks for reminding all about Sanctity of Life Sunday. This is a wonderful opportunity to lovingly encourage your rector to say something about life issues, or if he/she is not comfortable doing so (sigh), do so yourself during announcements!! I started doing so last year, and plan to do so every year. It can be as simple as calling people’s attention to SOLS, and (as I will) asking them to PRAY: for the priceless blessing of life; for respecting life at all stages; for all children both born and unborn, who need loving adoptive homes; for women facing unplanned or “crisis” pregnancies, that they may hear that there are alternatives that give their child the choice of life. And then, being a resource in your parish for information on adoption and other life-affirming choices.
Joshua, #7, Thank you so much for offering a helpful way we can speak out and act.
Over time, our hearts become hardened and desensitized by subtle lies, subtle lies compromising the truth and love of God that devalue life and depersonalize human beings that are fostered by the enemy and pour through the media and the day to day conversation of the culture.
We are hardened as well by our own sinful choices and by believing and cooperating with the culture.
We may be busy and distracted…
We may not have our values and priorities ordered aright…
Our Lord is not in first place…
We may be afraid to confront evil…
So we look away like the priest and others walked around the man lying beaten in the road.
(kinda like what happened in the church)
Sometimes, in His mercy, our Lord permits a ‘whiff’ of reality like ammonia to wake us up.
Here is a bit of ammonia…
Health problems for the mother who chooses abortion:
. After an abortion there may be a higher risk of developing cervical and
ovarian cancer.
. Abortion can lead to infertility, a serious long-term complication that
often goes undetected for many years.
. Abortion can lead to complications in future pregnancies including:
premature birth, placenta previa, and ectopic pregnancy.
. One study indicated that women who had abortions were twice as likely to
die in the two years following their abortion than women who gave birth.
. A woman who undergoes an abortion has a suicide risk six times higher than
women who have given birth to a child.
. It is minorities who suffer from the greatest number of serious
complications and deaths after abortion.
. Psychological and emotional complications reported in a 1994 survey of
women who had abortions and sought counseling found that they experienced a
range of problems including: increased use of drugs and/or alcohol to deaden
their pain, reoccurring insomnia and nightmares, eating disorders that began
after the abortion, suicidal feelings, and many even attempted suicide.
. In the US, approximately 140,000 women a year have immediate medical
complications from abortion. This includes problems such as: infection,
uterine perforation, hemorrhaging, cervical trauma, and failed
abortion/ongoing pregnancy.
. “Among the oldest group of women (30-39 years) the complication rate is
almost 22% for abortions between 17 and 24 weeks gestation.”
. Research indicates that abortion may increase a woman’s risk of breast
cancer by 30%.
. Childbirth actually protects against cancer of the reproductive system.
http://www.anglicansforlife.org/Womens Health Booklet.pdf
I won’t link to photos or graphically describe full-term babies left to die in a bin, ready to be tossed out in the garbage.
Here is a prayer (Novena from Priests for Life) to help our hearts and to align us with HIS high purposes, Truth, Love and Life:
Prayer of Reparation
God and Father of Life,
You have created every human person,
And have opened the way for each to have eternal life.
We live in the shadow of death.
Tens of millions of your children have been killed
Thanks to the Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
Father, have mercy on us.
Heal our land
And accept our offering of prayer and penance.
In your love for us,
Turn back the scourge of abortion.
May each of us exult in hearts full of hope
And hands full of mercy
And work together to build a culture of life.
We pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Catholic bishops of the United States have designated January 22 (Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade) as a special day of prayer and penance in reparation for the massive killing that has resulted from the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision (handed down January 22, 1973) which permitted abortion throughout pregnancy.
My mum died of ovarian cancer, so I go for a test every year. It isn’t comfortable, and it takes about three hours of my time, counting getting there and all that. Not such a big deal in the larger scheme of things, really. Not something that needs such a drastic solution as is described in this post.
And what happens when that “safe” embryo-turned-adult gets breast cancer anyway? Cancer isn’t only hereditary. Will they not rest until they’ve eradicated every possible risk factor that faces a human from conception to death? Can’t be done, and it’s an angst-ridden, carcenogenic pursuit in itself - born of fear, and not faith.
GA/FL, thanks for the kind words. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve only become more vocal in supporting pro-life issues in the past several years, despite considering myself pro-life for many more. The real “whiff of reality” that our Lord gave me was the adoption of our beautiful little girl after years of the pain of infertility and attendant treatments… and finding out much later that her birth mom had been considering abortion until some folks got her information about Christian adoption services. Now, every night that I do bedtime with our daughter, I give thanks for her, for her birth mom’s change of heart and courage to give her up for adoption, for all those who work to save children from abortion and lives without loving families, and for God, who really does answer prayers and knows us from the womb.
As an MD, I also shudder at the hubris of those who think that they will be able to create a eugenic Nirvana through “designer embryos,” etc. Where will it end? Who will decide which conditions are “lives unworthy of living,” or which diseases are “too burdensome” to take a chance on developing? There are genetic components to a whale of a lot of chronic illnesses, if one considers the influence of family history—we just haven’t pinpointed them as with specific genes like BRCA. Even with those, one isn’t CERTAIN that carrying a particular gene will condemn one to that disease. How many children’s lives will be snuffed out to achieve a eugenic utopia?