After a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, parents usually kill their child. Achieving this outcome is a primary purpose for why prenatal tests are used today. Beyond this, societal and individual pressures condition parents to murder their disabled child. And if this was not shocking enough, it gets even worse.
In Canada, some doctors have even argued that euthanasia for newborns with disabilities may be an appropriate treatment and, under the circumstances, would constitute “care.” If this became legalized, Canada would join the Netherlands and Belgium who allow euthanasia for people under the age of 18. Additionally, the Government of the Netherlands policy, horrifically justifies killing disabled children between the ages of one to twelve, under certain circumstances.
Clearly, the logical extension of denying preborn humans the right to life gets extended to people outside the womb too. The first essay exposed a type of genocide being waged against children with Down syndrome. It detailed how prenatal screening works, along with societal and individual pressures that groom a woman to murder her child. This second essay seeks to equip the church on how to respond, and it answers whether or not Christians should get prenatal testing.
The Church’s Prophetic Calling in an Age of Eugenics
Who decides which babies may live? It is imperative to see that when we forsake the truth of God, the “truth” we are told to believe is arbitrary, and people are killed on the basis of their ethnicity, sex, and disability. The class of people society views as unworthy of life may change over time as cultural elites assign arbitrary meanings to society.1
1. Michael A. Wilkinson, “Schaeffer Contra Statism: A Biblical Analysis of the Past for the Present,” Christ Over All, October 18, 2024.
In this age of eugenics, the church must reclaim her prophetic voice to abolish eugenic abortion. Here are six truths to start with.
1. God Gives the Right to Life
Human rights are given by God, and the most fundamental right he has given us is the right to life. He is the Creator, and we receive our rights from Him. If human rights do not come from God, but a government, then they are merely privileges that can later be revoked by that same government.2
2. Levi Secord, “Government: God-Given Rights,” The Worldview Minute, February 13, 2024, YouTube video, 10:00.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” People are the pinnacle of God’s creation (cf. Ps. 8:4), and are the only creatures made in His image. Since they are made in His image, their lives have intrinsic worth and must be protected (cf. Exod. 20:13). Ultimately, to attack a person is to attack God’s image; therefore, it is to attack God Himself.
2. All Humans Are Made in the Image of God
All humans are made in the image of their Creator (Gen. 1:26).3
3. Stephen Wellum, “Humans: The Image and Likeness of God,” Christ Over All, January 15, 2025.
The image of God cannot be reduced to a specific quality in us, like reason, or our ability to do something, like take dominion, or our ability to relate to God and others. These views reduce the image to a single element. One troubling effect of doing this is that people have greater and lesser abilities to think, act, and relate. Does this mean someone with a reduced mental capacity is less of an image bearer? Or, could someone suffer a gruesome accident, become cognitively impaired and subsequently lose their image-bearing status? No, not at all! Any ability a person has to think, act, or relate is a consequence of their ontology, because who you are always precedes what you do. Image bearing is intrinsic to all humans. This is true regardless of someone’s size, ability, or degree of suffering.
3. Children Are a Gift
Children are gifts from God, not products to customize or discard (Ps. 127:1). Today’s eugenic campaign against children with Down syndrome rejects God’s authority as Creator and His sovereignty over forming a person with disability (Exod. 4:11). Many treat children like an Amazon order. If they do not like the package that arrives, they simply send it back and put in another order. In the same way, many parents seek to customize their children’s genetic traits according to their selfish desires. What will these so-called parents do when their hand-picked child inevitably fails to live up to their dreams? What will they do if he becomes disabled after birth? The church must strive to help the world see that a child’s worth as an image bearer of God is a much more defining characteristic than whether their child is physically fit or has a disability.
4. Partiality is Evil
Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” Our glorious Triune God is impartial! He does not show special treatment to people based on their vocation, socio-economic class, or ethnicity (cf. Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25; Lev. 19:15; Acts 10:34–35). People commit the sin of partiality when they pay thousands of dollars to try to engineer the brightest offspring possible, when they abort children with undesirable traits, and when they are unwilling to raise a child with Down syndrome. The church must call people to repent of their partiality whereby they assume the role of an unjust judge, and teach people that God sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
5. Understand What Compassion Is
As the world hijacked the rainbow’s meaning (Gen. 9:13–16), it has also hijacked compassion. The Lord is compassionate and merciful (Jas. 5:11) and calls His people to be compassionate (Rom. 12:15). We must proclaim the good news of God’s compassion and refute its hideous counterfeits. “Compassion is being moved in the affections of our inner being when we see the distress of others, coupled with a subsequent outer movement of action in which we seek to alleviate that distress out of love for God and love for neighbor.”4
4. Karrie Hahn, “What Is Compassion?” Ligonier, January 7, 2024.
Compassion is not merely sharing in someone’s pain, but also taking action to alleviate their distress. In compassion, Christ met physical needs like healing the sick and feeding the hungry (Matt. 14:14, 15:32). The world’s claim that it is compassionate to end the lives of children with Down syndrome is cruelty. True compassion is to welcome your child with Down syndrome into your family and to raise him as what he is: a precious child made in God’s image. This is true compassion.
6. Endure Faith-building Suffering Over a Convenient Death
Whether it be perceived or actual, suffering is often the reason given for both eugenic abortion and euthanasia. Disastrously, “death is increasingly seen as a solution to suffering. Rather than being the enemy, death is seen as an ally.”5
5. Levi Minderhoud and Daniel Zekveld, “The Cautionary Tale of Euthanasia in Canada,” In All Things (Dordt University), March 18, 2025.
Many parents abort their child with Down syndrome because they do not want to endure the difficulty of caring for a needy child. Additionally, many unbelievers have pursued euthanasia, because they thought it would end their suffering, only to step into Hell and be met by sufferings far greater than they ever imagined. We must plead with people to avoid the same fatal mistake. The church must show the world that death is an enemy, not a friend, but Christ can empower all who look to Him in faith to endure suffering, and to be raised from the grave to everlasting life (1 Cor. 15:20–28).
Should Christians Get Prenatal Testing?
Should Christians get prenatal testing? This is a complex and difficult ethical question as many different abnormalities are tested for beyond Down syndrome. There’s no moral “ought” to getting prenatal testing, but Christians have the freedom to pursue it with cautions. At the end of a two-part essay decrying how prenatal testing often results in murder, this answer may surprise you. But there are certain medical cases where early detection through prenatal testing can catalyze beneficial medical treatment while the child is still in the womb. For example, if Spina Bifida is detected early enough, doctors can perform surgery on the child still in the womb that can increase leg functionality later in the child’s life.
But there are still dangers to be aware of. Here are three brief principles to help you face prenatal testing with confidence.
1. Christian parents: settle in your minds, once for all, that under no circumstances will you murder your child. Have a steel spine. Be ready to resist the pressure you may receive from a medical profession to steer you otherwise. Just because many people break the sixth commandment against murder does not make this action moral. Should you receive an unfavorable prenatal test, draw deep from the well of God’s goodness, recognize that this sovereign God makes no mistakes, and have faith that your Lord has good plans for you and your child.
2. Fathers, when possible, be present at your wife’s prenatal appointment. As noted, in certain circumstances where a prenatal test reveals an abnormality, medical professionals may encourage a mother to murder her child. As a man, part of your responsibility is to protect your family (Gen. 2:15). Being present allows you to guard your wife and your child, and it also means that your wife will not have to shoulder alone the emotional shock of an unfavorable prenatal test result.
3. When offered prenatal testing, look your doctor in the eyes and explain your guardrails around prenatal testing. Consider saying something along these lines:
Doctor, thank you for the care you are giving. I want you to know that I am a Christian, and my child is made in the image of God. He is a precious gift from the Lord, and I accept him with open arms. I will not murder my child, and I do not want that suggestion ever given to me. If this screen indicates my child may have Down syndrome, I am not moving forward with an invasive test, because this poses a risk of miscarriage. If you sincerely believe my child has Down syndrome, please take the extra precautions you would take as if there were an official diagnosis of Down syndrome. The only reason I am getting this test is because of the rare circumstances when surgery may save or dramatically improve the life of my child.6 Again, thank you for your care.
6. Boston Children’s Hospital, “Fetal Surgery,” August 14, 2024.
Explaining yourself like this guards you from being pressured to murder, it brings clarity to the situation, and it also shows that Christ is Lord over your entire life. Imagine the witness it is to a secular doctor if he hears this speech a hundred times in his medical career from fathers who are present with their wives at their appointments. And imagine the softening effect in his heart when he sees Christian couples following through and choosing to care for their child with a genetic abnormality. Every prenatal test is an opportunity to let the effects of the gospel in your life shine.
Conclusion
Christians must take an extraordinary stand for the unborn in the public square—and in the examination room. Some Christians must even relentlessly labor as lawyers, activists, lawmakers, and judges so that children in their mother’s wombs are protected by the law. Some Christians may be called to serve God in the medical profession as those who refuse to be a participant in genocide because of the fear of God (Exod. 1:15–20). Still others must hold corrupt organizations and governments accountable and let them know what they are doing is not lawful (Matt. 14:1–12).
And while most Christians will not be called to serve God in all these particular ways, every Christian must engage in contending for the rights of the unborn. Imagine the power of hundreds of Christians in prayer beseeching the Almighty God to stop something he hates—the shedding of innocent blood. Christian, will you persist in prayer for abortion to be recognized as the crime that it is? The Lord has uniquely assigned to us all different callings and gifts, so wherever you are, step up to your post and fight. Heed the exhortation of Proverbs 24:10–12:
If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to His work?
