Words of Dr. Lejeune on Pre-Born Human Life, Discoverer of Gene Causing Down Syndrome

Church Pop: Doctor Jerome Lejeune discovered trisomy 21, the genetic defect that causes Down syndrome. While he labored with the intent to find a cure, he decried the pervasive usage of his discovery in prenatal testing for abortion. His pro-life stance may have cost him a Nobel Prize, but St. John Paul II appointed him as the first president of the Pontifical Academy of Life instead.

With his cause for canonization open in Rome, Lejeune’s eloquence in defense of life deserves as much consideration today as ever before:

“Human genetics can be summarized in this basic creed: In the beginning is the message, and the message is in life, and the message is life. And if the message is a human message, then the life is a human life…

“The enemies of life know that to destroy Christian civilization, they must first destroy the family at its weakest point—the child. And among the weakest, they must choose the least protected of all—the child who has never been seen; the child who is not yet known or loved in the usual meaning of the word; who has not yet seen the light of day, who cannot even cry out in distress.”