A society that uses its technology to protect life in childbearing while also using it to selectively end life separates the material from the spiritual — reshaping expectations, lowering tolerance for difficulty, and dimming our understanding of what it means to receive life as a gift rather than manage it as a variable.
Behind the rapid growth of prenatal testing lies a quiet moral crisis. In the United States, more than 200,000 people live with Down Syndrome, yet thousands more never get the chance to live at all. Each year, about 5,700 babies are born with Down syndrome, but research suggests the number would be significantly higher without abortions following a prenatal diagnosis. In Europe, roughly half of Down syndrome pregnancies end in termination, and some countries report rates of above 90 percent.
The conclusion is hard to escape. A subtle strain of eugenics has returned to the practice of childbearing, not through state mandate but through cultural expectation, technology breakthroughs, and clinical routine.
From Uncertainty to Control
Scientific developments have transformed pregnancy. Before the 20th century, childbearing was shrouded in mystery. There were no genetic screenings. Prenatal care consisted of home visits from a physician or midwife. Conditions such as gestational diabetes and genetic abnormalities were largely unknown until labor or tragedy revealed them.
Today, modern medicine has made childbirth safer. Infant mortality rates have fallen to about five to six per 1,000. Maternal deaths have dropped to roughly 20 to 30 per 100,000. Expectant mothers now receive fetal heart monitoring, blood pressure screenings, preeclampsia detection, and detailed imaging. Parents can learn a child’s sex, size, and approximate weight. They can even see a three-dimensional image of their child’s face months before birth.
These are real blessings. Christians should be grateful for them. Yet technology does not merely expand what a society can do. It shapes what it expects. When uncertainty becomes measurable, it begins to feel intolerable. What once required trust now feels like a problem to be managed.
When Risk Was Part of Life
For most of human history, the risk of childbearing was accepted as part of life. Danger did not eliminate gratitude for the life that survived it. Scripture reflects this posture of humility before the mystery of life: “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
In fact, large families were common in part because loss was expected. Parents knew that not every child would survive. That reality shaped family size, cultural attitudes toward death, and the way people received children as gifts rather than projects to be optimized. Loss was present, but so was reverence for life. Alongside the presence of danger and death was a worldview that recognized the God-given blessing of children.
The irony is that the innovations of modern technology and medicine, while physically promoting and safeguarding life, have not always been matched by a deeper appreciation for its sanctity. The clarity that modern technology now provides risks shifting a society’s perspective to risk management.
Who Gets to Be Born
One need look no further for a clearer example than in the case of society’s most vulnerable: the unborn, namely those with genetic abnormalities or special needs.
In the beginning stages of pregnancy, many mothers are offered a prenatal screening such as MaterniT21. This test, known as a noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT), works through a simple maternal blood draw that analyzes cell-free fetal DNA. Through this screening, parents can receive an early warning if their child shows signs of genetic disorders. Normally, if a screening comes back as high risk, parents can choose to confirm it with a diagnostic test, such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis.
However, the sad reality is that for some families, the mere presence of risk sets them on a path toward decisions that they will never be able to take back. What makes this additionally striking is that these prenatal tests do not reveal the extent of the disability nor the symptoms that the baby might actually have. More often than not, individuals with Down syndrome live long, meaningful lives, contributing richly to their families and communities.
But in fear of the unknown and spurred on by doctors who cite grim statistics and encourage termination, families often assume worst-case scenarios and decide that allowing the pregnancy to carry through is not worth the risk.
Alongside the ever-growing abortion industry, prenatal testing has implicitly given many parents the power to decide which lives are worth keeping and which can be passed up for another try. There is no longer humble acceptance of the conditions but defiance of God’s providence driven by the desire for certainty. More often than not, an unborn child whose genetic makeup is less than ideal is the one to pay the price.
A Biblical Warning
The aim of this article is not to reject medical testing or technological progress. It is undeniable that modern medicine has saved countless lives. Rather, the concern is how such tools may shape the posture of the heart.
Scripture gives a warning through the ancient account of Babel in Genesis 11:4:
“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’”
The ancient narrative of Babel is not an immediate warning against a society’s pursuit for advance but against its misuse to become their own gods. It’s a lesson against those who would believe that humanity can surpass the limits God has placed on human life.
A society that uses its technology to protect life in childbearing while also using it to selectively end life separates the material from the spiritual. Over time, such practices not only reduce risk but reshape expectations, lower tolerance for difficulty, and dim our understanding of what it means to receive life as a gift rather than manage it as a variable.
The biblical vision of human life runs in the opposite direction of the spirit of our age. Human worth is not determined by strength or ability but by the image of God borne by every person from the moment of conception. Thus, even those considered the weakest members of a society are indispensable. The greater question for our age is not simply what technology enables but whether we are willing to be fruitful and multiply on God’s terms rather than the culture’s.
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