Collin Hansen, writing in the Web edition of Christianity Today, explores recent new medical advances that allow for non-invasive testing of pregnant women to determine whether the babies they’re carrying have cystic fibrosis, b-thalassemia, or sickle cell anemia — ailments all caused by a single mutated gene. Like new, expanded testing for Down syndrome, it ominously points to not treatment or education for the parents but an earlier opportunity to abort the child.

As we press forward for further knowledge, it becomes clear that we are less capable of handling that knowledge that we are so eager to have. Hansen puts it this way:

At the root of the quest for foreknowledge is control. Testing children for genetic abnormalities gives concerned parents a measure of control over the situation. But abortion can only negate the pregnancy; it cannot make their children healthy. We have much less control than we want or think we have. And that is the good news, because the God who knows all that was, all that is, and all that will be holds out the promise that by faith we can have peace with all that he brings to pass.