Pope Warns Against Discrimination Through Genetic Screening

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Fertility;  Genetics
Article Date: 25 Feb 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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During a Vatican conference titled "New Frontiers of Genetics and the Risk of Eugenics," Pope Benedict XVI said that there are "worrisome displays" of discrimination resulting from advancements in diagnosing genetic illnesses and the development of therapies to treat them, the AP/Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the pope's comments were an "apparent reference to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for embryos," which allows embryos created for in vitro fertilization to be tested for genetic conditions and diseases prior to implantation. The Vatican opposes PGD because embryos are often destroyed as a result. Benedict also is opposed to the technology because "it means that medical biotechnology has given way to being the judge of the strongest." He is concerned that genetic screening can lead to discrimination because it prizes "efficiency, perfection and physical beauty at the expense of other forms of existence that are deemed unworthy."

Proponents of the genetic testing and PGD argue that the technology can help prevent parents from passing on hereditary diseases to their children. Many countries either ban the procedure or restrict it to the detection of serious diseases, in part to curb selective screening of factors like eye color or gender, the AP/Post reports. The pope said, "What we must repeat with force is the equal dignity of every human being, for the sole fact of having been brought to life. One's biological, psychological and cultural development and health can never become an element for discrimination" (Winfield, AP/Washington Post, 2/21).

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