Another Name for an Ugly Reality
- Andrea G. Schwartz,
What is missed in the discussions of Nadya Suleman and her octuplets is the ugly reality of embryo reduction that customarily takes place in cases of in vitro fertilization.
The normal practice is to implant all the fertilized eggs and then, based on a preference factor, "reduce" the number to what the patient wants. Thus, some babies live and others die based on the patient’s idea of a dream family -- two girls, two boys, a boy and a girl, or just one of a particular gender. The medical community often stresses the health of the mother in recommending options, but in the majority of cases, many babies are placed on the “hit list” and never see the light of day.
We have seen the erosion of the value of life for the past 4 - 5 decades with abortion that it hardly makes news. Make no mistake about it: embryo reduction is an abortion practice that goes on day-in and day-out in our affluent society. Doctors get around calling it abortion because they claim that in abortion a pregnancy is ended, yet in embryo reduction, pregnancy continues.
Although the octuplet story is one with bizarre twists, the bright side is that none of the eight babies had to face the "firing squad" of an abortionist's knife and have lived to see the light of day.
- Andrea G. Schwartz
Andrea Schwartz is Chalcedon’s family and Christian education advocate, and the author of eight books including: A House for God: Building a Kingdom-Driven Family, The Biblical Trustee Family: Understanding God’s Purpose for Your Household, Empowered: Developing Strong Women for Kingdom Service, Woman of the House: A Mother’s Role in Building a Christian Culture, and The Homeschool Life: Discovering God’s Way to Family-Based Education. She’s also the co-host of the Out of the Question podcast, the Chalcedon podcast, and has an active teaching schedule with women and high schooled students.. She can be reached at [email protected].