Let me start by saying that here I'm using "anthropology" in its theological sense, rather than as the name of a discipline. Anthropology in theology is the doctrine of man. You could argue that those without a belief in some sort of god have no theological anthropology, but every worldview has some basic belief about humanity and the nature of humankind. Therefore, we need to examine if a belief system's anthropology aligns with what we see in the world.
I've been teaching the beginning of Genesis to the children in our children's church program at my home church. Chapters 1- 3 spend time explaining the nature of humanity, and there are two points that are made. On each of these points, Biblical teaching diverges from modern thought. In each case, I believe that the Biblical view is more concordant with reality than the modern viewpoint.
The first of these is first laid out in Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; )male and female he created them." Chapter 2 fleshes out the actual creation of man and woman, and the commission given to them by God. Theologians have argued for centuries over the exact meaning of the imago Dei, but all generally agree it has to do with a qualitative difference between humanity and the rest of creation. It includes rationality, self-awareness, and moral/ethical reasoning.
Modern anthropology sees humanity as just another animal, perhaps more advanced in its cognitive function but certainly no different than the rest of the animal kingdom (at least; some argue humanity is no more significant than plants, microbes, or even non-living things). If you start from an atheistic perspective, this follows logically. If everything evolved from nothing in a completely random, undirected fashion, in which the survivors were the lucky ones who were fortuitously adapted to conditions, then humanity isn't so much advanced as just differently endowed by nature.
From that viewpoint, the concepts of abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and even eugenics (of a mild or radical stripe) make perfect sense. If every person is not qualitatively distinct from animals, they don't deserve special protection and eliminating them can even be considered ethical in that those who consume resources while contributing little to society are a liability rather than an asset.
From a Christian viewpoint, if every person is created in the image of God, then everyone, no matter what their condition, is qualitatively distinct from animals. If that is the case, killing the inconvenient, the weak, and the "defective" cannot be justified. Every person deserves life, respect, and the opportunity to live life to the fullest extent possible.
I work with children, teens, and young adults with various special needs. To the world, these people are expendable. Some of my students will never leave a wheelchair; some will never communicate with other people; some exhibit behaviors that are societally disruptive. The way we handle those like my students reflects our view of humanity, both theirs and ours. My greatest fear is that someday bioethicists like Peter Singer will find a society conducive to their thought, and children like my students will be "allowed to die with dignity" without any choice on their part. (Don't dismiss this lightly; it's already happened, if only to a limited extent, in places like Nazi Germany and Communist China.)
Most people recoil from such thinking. There is something, I believe something innate, that tells us to value the weak, the sick, the poor, and the "special." Most of us hold to some form of belief in the uniqueness of humanity, even to some form of imago Dei, that prevents us from wanting to harm or kill those who are less than perfectly able to adapt to society. In our hearts and minds, we recognize that the Biblical view of humanity is closer to reality than the modern view; even if we don't believe the Bible itself, we recognize it holds wisdom on this issue.
A belief in the uniqueness of humanity is an "expensive" belief. It doesn't just cost us in money, but in time, effort, and resources to meet the needs of those who cannot fend for themselves. Yet to hold to the opposite belief is also expensive; it costs us our own uniqueness and place in the university, as well as disturbing our instinctive altruism. It also keeps a question alive in our minds: "What happens when society no longer values me?" (Those who propose the elimination of those who lack "quality of life" often assume that they themselves have enough to warrant continued existence.) In the end, the question is what price we as people want to pay for our belief in the nature of our own humanity, and the Biblical view more closely aligns with what we believe about our own selves.
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