Late last Spring I became increasingly convinced that a major area not tackled by the pro-life movement in any coordinated fashion is the new eugenics movement in fetal medicine. Specifically, increasing numbers of physicians are advising, demanding, and even coercing women to abort babies diagnosed with what have become known collectively as “Poor Prenatal Diagnoses.” Such conditions as Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13, Anencephaly, Spina Bifida, etc… constitute this constellation.
Over the past two years, I have heard dozens of women tell me their personal horror stories, many of whom refusing to abort and then going on to have a perfectly normal child. We hear of countries in Europe who are boasting that they will have eradicated Down Syndrome in a few short years, not by eliminating the ongoing occurrence of trisomy 21, but by a 100% abortion rate as the diagnoses come in.
Why not tell women of all that can be done to help these babies?
I contacted Chris Gacek of the Family Research Council, who put me in touch with Jeanne Monahan, the Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity. Together with Jeanne, and with the advice of Peg Kolm of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, and my good friend Leticia Velasquez who co-founded KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome), a working group formed around the idea of having a full day medical conference for medical professionals and the public alike. What emerged from this group is the Council on Poor Prenatal Diagnoses and Therapeutic Interventions.
And here we are. A wonderful collaborative project with others including the Lejeunne Foundation on therapeutics from the womb and throughout the individual’s life.
The conference on Saturday will be live webcast from FRC Headquarters in Washington, and is free to sign up and watch. Just follow this link to register. (We’re pretty near our limit for in-person attendance)
Conference main speakers will address the tidal wave of therapeutic interventions available for these children. They include:
John Bruchalski, M.D.
Byron Calhoun, M.D.
Alberto Costa, M.D., Ph.D.
Jeanne Monahan, M.A.
Gerard Nadal, Ph.D.
David Prentice, Ph.D.
Laura Toso, M.D.
In addition, we’ll be hearing the witness of Samuel Armas, the little baby who had fetal surgery for Spina Bifida, and whose hand was photographed reaching out from the womb and holding the finger of his surgeon. He’ll be there with his mother, Julie.
We’re also going to have a panel discussion and presentations by people who have founded organizations to support these children and their parents:
Melinda Delahoyde, Care Net
Leticia Velasquez, Kids
Christopher Bell, Good Counsel Homes
Nancy Mayer Whittington, Isaiah’s Promise
Mary Kellett, Prenatal Partners for Life
Kristan Hawkins, Students for Life
Paper Presentations by medical students.
Documentary preview and discussion by In Altum Productions Filmmakers
Jordan Allott and Daniel Allott.
The conference begins at 8:30 A.M. and ends at 5:00 P.M.
The good news is that there is a group of physicians here in New York who have been thinking along the same lines, as well as pro-life medical professionals around the country who have all come up with the same concern and the same resolve to effect a change. It’s the leading of the Holy Spirit, and just in time. Many medical school professors encourage eugenic abortion and don’t teach the therapeutics. This conference will pierce the encroaching shroud of silence and shine the light on all that medicine has to offer its tiniest patients.
So, starting this coming Saturday, The Council on Poor Prenatal Diagnoses and Therapeutic Interventions is kicking off A Year of Hope and Healing, which will see more conferences and coordinated activity in bringing to the fore the many support and advocacy groups, more physicians, scientists, and ethicists.
Please join us this coming Saturday for the live webcast, and spread the good word!
Again, it’s free to attend on-line. Just register at this link.
Coming Home 
“A Year of Hope and Healing”
Great to see this…is post abortion being addressed? With so many abortions because of adverse diagnosis I pray this is part of the plan.
We at Lumina do Adverse days and are constantly getting calls from people who have given in to the pressure to abort or who truly thought it was the right thing to do.
This conference looks great!! I am so glad this issue is finally being addressed.
You wrote, “… I have heard dozens of women tell me their personal horror stories, many of whom refusing to abort and then going on to have a perfectly normal child.” Yes, it is true that misdiagnoses occur rarely but is that what this conference is about? Should women refuse abortion because they have hope that the diagnosis might be an error?
I know that your intentions are very good. I just wish that you had written that you have heard stories of dozen of women who told you that the prenatal diagnosis they received was exactly correct yet the doctors were incorrect to encourage abortion. The reality is that the precious life of the child who might have lived only a short time or been severely disabled is the greatest gift that the mother and her family ever received. This is the paradox. This is what needs to known in the Christian community and beyond.
The diagnosis I received was 100% accurate. My son had Trisomy 21 and a complete atrial congenital heart defect, meaning he had only two chambers instead of 4, and only one valve instead of two. He would need to have a wall created in his heart and one valve made into two to survive. There was some pressure from some professionals. The genetic counsellor tried to sound me out: “You have a decision to make.” and when I said, “We’re keeping the baby,” continued to call him it and let me know that it was okay, that I had other children, and that I wouldn’t necessarily have another child with the same condition if I opted to have other children, and asking me, “How do you feel?” over and over again. My dentist told me “Abort” as I was getting my teeth cleaned. (Got a new dentist). He was born. He had heart surgery and our lives are fuller for having him with us every day.
Hi,
this conference sounds very interesting.
Misdiagnosis are a big problem, but I don’t think that it’s because of a possible misdiagnosis that parents should decide to carry their baby to term after a poor prenatal diagnosis.
I’ve been in contact with hundreds of families who got the diagnosis of anencephaly for their unborn baby, and what they really need is not the hope for a misdiagnosis, but doctors who care about their baby no matter if s/he’s perfect in the world’s eyes or not.
I hope that your conference will be a success and if you’ll organise a second conference, I really hope that you’ll have enough place for some people from Europe.
Best regards from Switzerland
♠I am afraid that Dr. Nadal is not correct in his statement concerning his belief that the prolife movement has neglected eugenics and the dangers of prenatal diagnosis.
As a matter of fact, since the late 1960s when the eugenic policies of the March of Dimes made national headlines, prolifers have been at the forefront of the anti-eugenics movement – a fact even recognized by the Eugenic Establishment itself here in the United States.
When it became clear that the March of Dimes was not going to change its eugenic spots, Dr. Jerome Lejeune of Paris and myself formed the International Foundation for Genetic Research, popularly known as The Michael Fund. We are the prolife alternative to the MOD. After Dr. Lejeune’s death, we moved our research program to the United States.
This year the Michael Fund announced its program to begin clinical testing based on the work of Dr. Lejeune and our current Director of Research, Dr. Paddy Jim Baggot.
Since 1979 when The Michael Fund was established, prolifers have been our primary donors along with the parents and families with children with Down Syndrome.
The more than a half-a-century of support by the prolife movement for the mentally and physically handicapped child and his family is a matter of public record that we should be proud of.
The Michael Fund wishes you much success at your upcoming conference.
Sincerely, Randy Engel, Director, IFGR/Michael F
It was a fabulous conference. Thank you so much for all of your efforts. I am so pleased that this very important issue if finally being discussed.
Dear Sir – I left a comment on eugenics and the prolife movement which you have not posted. Have you censored it? Randy Engek, IFGR/MF
Randy,
My apologies. I’ve been away from the blog for over a week, and your comments were sitting in the spam folder. There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind which comments post and which end up there.
I do take issue, however, with your initial comment. While you and Dr. Lejeune took early action, the sad truth is that there has been no coordinated response by the pro-life movement on this. That’s about to change. Let’s talk through email on arranging future collaborative efforts.