Philip Burcham is a professor of pharmacology in Australia. He has a genetically inherited form of brittle bone disease which can result in fractures much more easily than the average person. In his youth he had fifteen or so fractures in various places. When he married, his first daughter was discovered, at 10 months of age, to also have the disease. They were referred to an expert in the disease who asked them if they hoped to have any more children. When they answered that they did, he suggested that the members of his extended family have DNA testing so that, pointing to his infant daughter, “You don’t have any more of those.” When his wife informed the doctor that she would never consider aborting a child, the doctor left the room and didn’t return. He obviously believed that purifying the genetic stock of the populace would be of great benefit to everyone. Burcham offered this commentary on the experience. If my grandmother Jessie, who one hundred years ago had the disease, had agreed to abort her three affected offspring and they thus never had their own children, society would have been deprived of a doctor, a medical student, several nurses and teachers, a headmaster, two scientists, a systems engineer, a musician, an occupational therapist, a dental technician, a physiotherapist, a draftsman, some pastors and several skilled tradesman. All of them have been caring and responsible citizens. The loss to society would have been substantial. Imagine the loss to humanity in our own country because of millions of abortions performed since Roe vs Wade. What have we lost?
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