Playing God with ‘Cures’ that Might Be Unnecessary
Brianna loves Taylor Swift. She sleeps in late. Her iPod might as well be an extension of her left hand. She loves clothes and purses. The mention of a certain boy makes her giggle. She laughs. She cries. She loves. So you tell me, what needs to be fixed? From head to toe, she is exactly as God envisioned her.
When testing moves on from mice to humans (and it will), what will researchers do? What will parents do? Will we treat people with Down syndrome like human beings or guinea pigs? As a friend remarked, “Dr. Mengele weeps with joy. “ We aren’t talking about the removal of a tumor or an extra toe. We are talking about something that affects every single cell of a person’s body. Would you let someone screw with your child’s genetic make-up?
I’m not against helping people with disabilities live a better life. That isn’t my problem with scientific research. It’s that we know research doesn’t stop at making therapeutic gains. The ultimate goal is a “cure.”
Elimination.
Extinction.
When my daughter Abigail was eight years old she asked me the hardest question I’ve ever gotten. “Mommy, what will happen to Brianna when you die?” I didn’t really have an answer, at least not one that would satisfy her. Her response astounded me. “Don’t worry. She can come live with me.”
How I created such a selfless kid is beyond me. But perhaps if there were more people like Abby in the world, we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to correct a mistake that doesn’t exist.
Links:
http://conservativebyte.com/2013/07/breakthough-can-down-syndrome-be-turned-off/
http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/breakthough-can-down-syndrome-be-turned-off/
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/new-scientific-discovery-may-hold-key-to-saving-infants-with-down-syndrome/
Image: Cropped from Smilende gutt. Postkort fra NNDS 21.mars; author:Kari Reine; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license
