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2. IS PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS MORALLY
LICIT?
If prenatal diagnosis respects the life
and integrity of the embryo and the human foetus and is directed towards its
safeguarding or healing as an individual, then the answer is affirmative.
For prenatal diagnosis makes it possible to
know the condition of the embryo and of the foetus when still in the mother's
womb. It permits, or makes it possible to anticipate earlier and more
effectively, certain therapeutic, medical or surgical procedures. Such
diagnosis is permissible, with the consent of the parents after they have been
adequately informed, if the methods employed safeguard the life and integrity
of the embryo and the mother, without subjecting them to disproportionate
risks.(27) But this diagnosis is gravely opposed to the
moral law when it is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion
depending upon the results: a diagnosis which shows the existence of a
malformation or a hereditary illness must not be the equivalent of a
death-sentence. Thus a woman would be committing a gravely illicit act if she
were to request such a diagnosis with the deliberate intention of having an
abortion should the results conf rm the existence of a malformation or
abnormality. The spouse or relatives or anyone else would similarly be acting
in a manner contrary to the moral law if they were to counsel or impose such a
diagnostic procedure on the expectant mother with the same intention of
possibly proceeding to an abortion. So too the specialist would be guilty of
illicit collaboration if, in conducting the diagnosis and in communicating its
results, he were deliberately to contribute to establishing or favouring a link
between prenatal diagnosis and abortion. In conclusion, any directive or
programme of the civil and health authorities or of scientific organizations
which in any way were to favour a link between prenatal diagnosis and abortion,
or which were to go as far as directly to induce expectant mothers to submit to
prenatal diagnosis planned for the purpose of eliminating foetuses which are
affected by malformations or which are carriers of hereditary illness, is to be
condemned as a violation of the unborn child's right to life and as an abuse of
the prior rights and duties of the spouses,
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