A professor in the department of ecology and human evolution at the University of Chicago said in a blog that killing disabled infants is the same as aborting a fetus before it is born.
“If you are allowed to abort a fetus that has a severe genetic defect, microcephaly, spina bifida, or so on, then why aren’t you able to euthanize that same fetus just after it’s born?” he writes in his Why Evolution Is True blog.
But Jerry Coyne, the professor, is facing criticism for the blog.
Jeff Cimmino, an editorial intern, for The National Review, says Coyne’s argument is “riddled with flaws and mistakes.”
Coyne’s argument says “newborn babies aren’t aware of death, aren’t nearly as sentient as an older child or adult.
“It makes little sense to keep alive a suffering child who is doomed to die or suffer life in a vegetative or horribly painful state.”
Cimmino, however, says that is exactly the thinking of “throwaway culture,” which says that it’s OK to discard the weakest because they don’t meet a certain standard.
“The problem, however, is that killing is a poor means of reducing pain and suffering. It fosters a culture that undermines the value of life,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Coyne has a platform to teach students at a respectable university. One can only hope that his students see through and reject his misguided, poorly constructed arguments.”
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: July 20, 2017
