Dr. Jerome Lejeune: Champion of Down's Syndrome
Dr. John Bruchalski is a former abortionist who had his own profound conversion and is now doing great work delivering OB-GYN medical care to the poor and indigent in Virginia.
He shares with us the life of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a French physician and geneticist, as their lives have intertwined. Venerable Dr. Lejeune, and Sts. Giuseppe Moscatti and Gianna Molla from Italy are three role models for physicians, and I suggest you look them up.
Dr. Jerome Lejeune
Dr. Jerome Lejeune was a renowned geneticist and loving husband and father.
He had a great love for those suffering from Down’s Syndrome, and worked diligently to determine the cause and hopefully find a cure. Once he determined Down's Syndrome is a genetic disorder due to an extra chromosome, he was fearful the medical community would use his findings as a tool to abort these children.
Many think that abortion is a Catholic or religious ideal, and since they are not Christian, what do they care? But it is a moral issue for all. Lejeune said:
If the Catholic Church tomorrow approved abortion, then at that time would I stop being a Catholic.”
A Lost Nobel Prize?
Many felt that he was a top candidate for a Nobel Prize because of his findings; but when he cautioned the medical community not to use his findings as an instrument for abortion, he fell in disfavor.
Pope St. John Paul II appointed him as the first President of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Dr. Lejeune worked in his clinic and met his wife. He won an award in Bulgaria a few years ago that was given to those who emulate Dr. Lejeune’s life. The final line of Brahm’s Requiem states, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord, for their works follow them.
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