A reader writes:
Jimmy. My wife and I are quite pleased that she is expecting our second child. We found out that she was pregnant and the first ultrasound/OB visit is coming up soon.
We did not do any fetal testing with our first child and don’t plan on doing any fetal testing with this child, but I have been unable to find any official church teaching on fetal testing. Obviously there is opposition to almost all abortion, but do you have a good resource for what would be acceptable?
Obviously amnio increases the risk for miscarriage.
Thanks in advance.
First, let me clarify what you wrote regarding abortion. Any deliberate killing of the unborn–either as a means or an end–is homicide and cannot be done, no matter the circumstances. Thus it does not matter if prenatal testing showed that the unborn had a horrible genetic disease. He still has a right to life and can’t be killed.
When and whether prenatal testing is okay depends on two things: (1) the good to be achieved by doing the test and (2) the danger the test itself poses to the child.
If (1) is proportionate to (2) the the test is morally licit. If it is not (i.e., if the danger to the child is proportionately greater than the good to be achieved by the test) then the test is immoral.
Some tests seem to pose little risk to the child and can be done as long as one isn’t tempted to do something immoral (like have an abortion) if one finds out that there is a problem with the child. I gather that ultrasound generally falls into this category.
Other tests, like amniocentesis, pose more of a risk to the child. Such riskier procedures could be performed if there is a proportionate good to be achieved, such as the ability to treat the child in utero and cure the problem. That isn’t possible in many cases yet, but with the growth of gene therapy and nanotechnology it will be possible to help more children in utero.
Things like doing an amnio just so you can find out if the kid has Downs so that he can be whacked, however, are immoral.
So would be (in a few years) doing gene therapy on the kid not to correct genetic flaws but to produce a "designer baby."
HERE’S A STATEMENT FROM THE USCCB FROM 1996 ON THE SUBJECT OF GENETIC TESTING.
From what I can tell, this statement doesn’t seem to have Magisterial authority, but it does contain a helpful summary of recent Magisterial interventions on this topic:
More and more frequently, expectant mothers are undergoing amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, and other tests to detect genetic anomalies in their unborn children.
The most detailed Catholic teaching on this and related subjects appears in a 1987 statement from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called The Gift of Life (Donum Vitae). It asks: “Is prenatal diagnosis morally licit? If prenatal diagnosis respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safeguarding or healing as an individual, then the answer is affirmative” (sec. I, no. 2).
The Holy Father builds on this declaration in his recent encyclical The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), holding that prenatal diagnostic techniques are morally permissible “when they do not involve disproportionate risks for the child and the mother, and are meant to make possible early therapy or even to favor a serene and informed acceptance of the child not yet born” (no. 63).
However, some prenatal testing poses significant risks to the unborn child, especially when performed on embryos before selection for implantation in the womb. Disturbing test results can also tempt individuals to make decisions not in accord with sound morality. The Holy Father goes on to note:
But since the possibilities of prenatal therapy are today still limited, it not infrequently happens that these techniques are used with a eugenic intention which accepts selective abortion in order to prevent the birth of children affected by various types of anomalies. Such an attitude is shameful and utterly reprehensible, since it presumes to measure the value of a human life only within the parameters of “normality” and physical well-being, thus opening the way to legitimizing infanticide and euthanasia. (no. 63)
Hope this helps, and congratulations on your new pre-born baby!
