The March of Dimes (MOD) uses the advertising slogan “Saving Babies Together.” However, they are selective about which babies they wish to save. The MOD supports and promotes prenatal testing (such as amniocentesis) in order to detect “defective” children. Studies show that between 95% and 100% of “defective” children are aborted after being found to have some genetic abnormality, while another 1% of the children are miscarried as a result of the test. Is this saving children together?
The MOD also promotes pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a process that screens embryos fertilized in vitro for various genes and/or diseases. The embryos that contain undesirable genes are destroyed instead of implanted into the mother’s womb. The MOD 2002 annual clinical genetics meeting featured a session where attendees could learn how to expand the use of PGD to detect more genetic diseases. They have also recently funded experiments involving human fetal tissue and embryonic stem cells. The MOD seems to work to ensure that “all babies will be born perfectly healthy” by destroying those who are not or cannot be perfectly healthy.
There was an alternative to the March of Dimes. The Michael Fund was dedicated to both scientific research for the prevention of genetic defects and the Pro-Life philosophy. Unfortunately, the Michael Fund shut down at the end of 2015 due to declining corporate grants and the declining health of its director, Randy Engel. You can still find links to information about their research on their web site: www.michaelfund.org