Charlotte Lozier Institute Co-Hosts U.S. Premiere of Jerome Lejeune Documentary

On May 6, the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) is co-hosting a free screening of the new documentary film about Jerome Lejeune entitled To the Least of These My Brothers and Sisters. The screening is open to the public and takes place next Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

In 1958, Lejeune discovered that Down syndrome was caused by an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Lejeune was hailed as “The Father of Modern Genetics” for that discovery, which radically changed the course of modern medicine.

To the Least of These My Brothers and Sisters is a new documentary on the life of Jerome Lejeune, made to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his death.

Lejeune was awarded the first Kennedy Prize by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and was celebrated by the American Society of Human Genetics in 1969. His fortunes turned, however, when he became an outspoken advocate for the dignity of every human life, and opposed the use of his discovery to prenatally diagnose and abort babies with Down syndrome.

CLI has worked with the Lejeune Foundation USA to advocate for individuals with Down Syndrome and their families.

In June of 2014, CLI published a paper authored by Mark Bradford, President of the Lejeune Foundation USA, on the state of Down syndrome (DS) research. Bradford also recently contributed to CLI’s blog an important analysis of recent studies that shows abortion after a prenatal diagnosis of DS has reduced the DS population in the United States by 30%.