Johann Hari of the Independent claims this has nothing to do with the evils of Nazi eugenics; it is entered into by parents and it is motivated by love.
Can anyone say "genetic idolatry"? Aren't we more than the sum of our genes? Or are we mere 'meatbots'?
Thursday, July 06, 2006
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2 comments:
Eloquent, as ever, Kevin. I especially like your point about genetic exceptionalism at the end there.
I also think there are some other interesting questions implied here. If one takes the positon that parents shouldn't tinker with genes, is preimplantation genetic diagnosis and non-implantation acceptable? If so, on what grounds?
Pushing it even farther, if we can't mess with genes, how do we justify terminating a pregnancy because a fetus has a chromosomal abnormality? Is it ok to eliminate future people with genes we don't like, but not ok to alter their genetic makeup?
My questions were intended to be provocative, but not necessarily dismissive of Johanni's viewpoint -- I think one of the key questions is who do we want deciding this issue, and I would much rather parents deciding rather than government interference.
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