Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Fetal Organs

A British scientist has recommended research into the transplantation of kidneys and livers from aborted babies. Does this sound new? If it does, you are sadly mistaken. This debate occurred in the United States over anencephalic babies aborted or brought to term to be harvested (their organs). Do you remember the Loma Linda Hospital debate? If not, maybe you should review it. Fortunately, that never came about, but perhaps because of our society and the push for organ donation, it will.  

The Supreme Court of Florida ruled in 1992 that an anencephalic newborn is not considered dead for the purpose of organ donation solely by reason of it's congenital deformity. In 1988 Ohio introduced legislation that would change Ohio's definition of death law. It would have permitted the direct killing of live anencephalic infants, in order to use their organs for transplant. This Bill was defeated.

The US is never far behind Britain. Here's their argument. We've heard it before. It's a temporary solution to the organ donor shortage, because there are nearly 7,000 to 8,000 Brits who need kidneys. The same arguments that were used in the US some years ago.

Stuart Campbell, a British OB-GYN Professor endorsed the proposal. "If babies are going to be terminated, it is a shame to waste their organs." Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President, R. Albert Mohler Jr. stated, "this is about as scary as the news can get. Here we confront a serious proposal to use aborted fetuses as factories for spare organs and tissues. Human dignity rests on a eroding foundation in terms of secular argument. We can see human dignity as it is more and more endangered with every passing proposal. The use of fetal of tissue in medical research is grossly immoral." 

Beware, a bill will surface in the US shortly.

This is truly a utilitarian view of society. The individual is for the better of society, not a Christian view of life. These inroads are becoming more and more prevelent in a society that looks at itself as the Creator, not the creature. 

In order to harvest organs, these babies would be late-term abortions . I wonder how a mother would justify her decision to have a late term abortion in order to give a stranger a kidney? Macaab? You bet. Look for the US to follow suit, since the debate over anacephalics will rise again.  

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