Eugenics and Universal Healthcare: Article | First Things

For those of you who are touting the success of Obama's new universal healthcare plan, you might want to consider that Australia has universal healthcare.  Unfortunately, they are still trying to cut healthcare costs by other means than simply requiring everyone to pay their own fair share.  Guess how?  You got it.  Eugenics and abortion.  Apparently, Philip C. Burcham and his American wife have a baby daughter who has a bone disease where osteoporosis is inherited.  When Mr. Burcham and his wife were referred to a specialist they thought they were going to receive expert treatment for their daughter.  What happened instead was that the doctor and the nurse wanted to recommend abortion if Burcham's wife ever became pregnant again:

“If that is the case,” the doctor replied, turning toward me, “we will need to obtain blood samples from some members of your extended family to allow DNA testing.” Fearing my family might be reluctant to participate in a research project, I naively asked why the genetic data was required. Waving a dismissive hand toward our daughter, who until this point had tried her darndest to win the doctor’s attention with coy smiles and giggles, this gifted physician who knew so much about the disease abruptly replied, “We want to ensure you don’t have another one of those!”

My emotions now resembled those of Hansel and Gretel at the point of their rude awakening in the famous fairy tale. Like the sugary treats fastened to the witch’s cottage, the saccharine assurances from the ER staff that this doctor was keen to help OI patients had obscured his intentions: They had brought us to a eugenicist who wished to push any of my future OI-affected offspring into the oven.

My wife had awoken to the same reality, and in one of the most galvanizing moments of our marriage, with firm voice she informed the doctor that she would never consider aborting a child within her womb. We were promptly shooed from the room.

You can read the rest of the article here:  Article | First Things