Pope restricts preventing disease in children?

     It is very apparent that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is not allowed in the realm of the Catholic Church. This procedure is available for an expensive price at many fertility clinics throughout the United States. The link below provides access to the website of every PGD fertility clinic in the USA. http://www.ihr.com/infertility/provider/preimplantation-genetic-diagnosis-pgd.html

     It is a procedure that takes place after a man and a woman decide to undergo the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF). In summary, IVF can increase pregnancy chances by extracting eggs from a woman and fertilizing her eggs with the father’s sperm in a Petri dish outside the womb. After these two cells multiply to around 50, they are called a blastomere and are mature enough to be implanted in the uterus. With PGD, right before implantation, the blastomere’s DNA is screened by scientists. At this point in time, PGD is most readily used to prevent serious genetic diseases that could significantly alter/inhibit the child’s life. The most common diseases that are prevented with this procedure are Down syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, and the rare blood disorder Diamond-Blackfan anemia. If this procedure became more readily available to the public, these diseases have the possibility of being eliminated all together.

     The pope clearly states in his publication Humanae Vitae under section 15 of Lawful Therapeutic Means that “the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there from—provided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever.” 

     This statement is fairly straightforward. It says that if a woman is sick, she may be given the available treatment, even if it has consequences of infertility. According to this statement, the process of PGD seems to be acceptable by the Catholic Church. It is a means to cure/prevent diseases. However, what is not often publicized about pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is what happens to the blastomeres that carry disease genes. These balls of cells are discarded, not implanted into the womb, and one could say they are ‘aborted’. The Catholic Church is an advocate of the statement that life begins at conception, and highly condemns abortion. So, which statement should a Catholic follow?

     The Catholic Church formed their statement of beliefs thousands of years ago. This was before the enlightenment, when people obeyed the law of religion and did not know any other way. They did not use science or rational thought. The alteration of culture and society in those days and in the modern world is astonishing. In our world today, it is sometimes difficult to draw the line and make ethical and moral decisions with the advanced technology that is available. Many people in our society, or at least in the Midwestern culture that I have been shaped by, have common values and morals. Many of these values are constructed by the church. In my personal Christian but not Catholic opinion, I think PGD to eliminate high chances of disease is completely ethical and acceptable. In my mind it is only rational to do everything possible to ensure the health of a child. It is my idea of 'responsible parenthood', a term the pope uses often. 

     It is interesting that the Pope mandates that in order to demonstrate responsible parenthood, “a man’s reason and will must exert control over them” (Section 10, Responsible parenthood). The Catholic Church tells men to think rationally and control sexual urges, however they do not allow them to think rationally about discarding 50 cells to ensure a quality life for their children.