The launch of "Praenatest" a new prenatal blood
test for Down syndrome, developed by biotech company LifeCodexx, continues to
be controversial raising the possibility of a new wave of eugenic abortion. "Praenatest"is
available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
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 medical world is split on the issue with some welcoming
the fact that this test makes it possible to know if an unborn baby has Down
syndrome or not, Others regard it as a new and extremely dangerous threat to the
unborn .
The German Centre for Information on Down syndrome considers
that, with this test, "people with Down syndrome will be, in the long term,
the first people with a genetic malformation to disappear from our society,
with the tacit approval of the majority."
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna,
vehemently criticized the test:
“The issue here is artificial selection or eugenics, pure and simple. Is the infernal term ‘life unworthy of life’ going to become reality again?”
The Cardinal’s words and the complaints of others highlight
the contradiction between the intentions behind the PrenaTest and the most
fundamental human right to live one’s life. This test serves only one purpose –
to abort children.
