Pope Speaks Against the Perfect Baby
Ok I'm no big fan of preposterous notions of The Perfect Baby, but I've got nothing on the hardball position that we and lots of others predicted would come out of the Vatican once this Pope was named. MSNBC/Reuters reports that he is on the warpath where reprotech is concerned:ROME - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday condemned genetic engineering and other scientific practices that allow people to select so-called “designer babies” by screening them for defects.Clearly no one has apprised the Pope that the critical bioethics issue these days is the fate of the body and child of Anna Nicole Smith, which has turned MSNBC into a 24/7 soap opera. But thank goodness he's protecting us from reproductive technology even in this time of crisis.
In a speech to the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Church body of experts, the Pope also attacked artificial insemination and the widespread use of medical tests that can detect diseases and inherited disorders in embryos.
“In developed countries, there is a growing interest for the most sophisticated biotechnological research to introduce subtle and extensive eugenics methods in the obsessive search for the ‘perfect child’,” the Pope said.
[hat tip: Art Caplan]
Labels: anna nicole smith, artificial insemination, perfect baby, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, the Pope
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Why the bashing on this issue? It's consistent with the Catholics' views on abortion and all things reproductive.
Then there's that pesky increase in birth defects that's associated with IVF
Clearly no one has advised the author that the Pope's just as entitled to his opinion as McGee is. Even this Baptist can see that (and Baptists are more opinionated than Progressives or Catholics.)
- by Beverly on Feb 25, 2007 at 6:46 AM | link
The pope is allowed to make his opinion, public opinion. He speaks for all Catholics when he makes his statement, but not all Catholics do totally agree with him.
As far as the "designer babies," it's sort of a sad statement on society, that we must have perfection in our children. Isn't diversity needed. Look at what formed the United States of America-our melting pot is based on diverstiy. If that's not enough, I have one word for you: Steven Hawking.
- by dabepo on Feb 27, 2007 at 1:16 AM | link
Freedom of Speech, at least that is what I was taught in school. Just because someone (even the Pope) voices his or her opinion does not mean it becomes a law. The term "designer" baby is a bit disturbing to me, but I do think that if we have the technology to screen for defects, I say let's use it. What people choose to do with that information may then become the big debate.
- by A.Patton on Feb 27, 2007 at 3:45 PM | link
The Pope and his apologists like to use the "eugenics" scare word to associate abortion and defect screening with the Nazis; a bit of projection, perhaps, given the Vatican's collaboration with Hitler in WWII. But I've always been a fan of Peter Singer's take on characterizing birth defects as "not worse, just different", as the Pope would have us do: Singer points out that if people actually feel this way, they should encourage pregnant women to take thalidomide; after all, babies born without limbs are not better or worse than those with limbs, just "different". It's a devastatingly simple argument that exposes the disingenuous claptrap of the disabled-rights radicals and the forced-pregnancy lobby with one simple statement.
- by Matt Norwood on Mar 1, 2007 at 1:48 PM | link
I agree with the Pope, even though I am not Catholic. I think that peole should not try and have the "perfect" baby. God has created everyone and we should keep that in mind when we do genetic testing, find somethin wrong with the embryo and have it aborted. When this happens we are destroying one of God's creations!!
- by R. Phipps RN on Mar 25, 2007 at 7:29 PM | link