Wednesday, September 22, 2010
To what extent should the nature of the disease influence the availablility of pre-implantation diagnosis? Consider: persons homozygous for for cystic fibrois or Duchenne's Muscular Dystropy will develop the disease. Symptoms begin early and significantly reduce the quality of life, often leading to premature death. In contrast, individuals with an allele for Huntington's disease will not experience symptoms until later in life. Further, persons with a gene for breast or bowel cancer may not develop the disease at all. Preventative screenings for both cancers (mammograms and colonoscopies) are available. Who should decide: the government, voters, or should this be a private matter?
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ReplyDeleteI think that this issue is a private matter because the embryo belongs to the parents. If the parents choose not to have the child after preventative screening then it's okay. One the other hand if the couple would still like to have the child even though they know that he/she is already diagnosed then it's their choice to do so. Many people a very pro-life and would keep the baby no matter what. The governement and voters should not interfere with personal matters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tanya in saying that this is a personal matter and should be kept between the company doing the Pre-implantation diagnosis and the family. The only reason i would say that this is not fair is one reason. If what i'm thinking is correct, these embryos were donating from someone else, in hopes that one day their embryo could potentially help out a family who can not have a baby naturally. Shouldn't the person who donated the embryo have a choice in whether or not the baby is born? Just because someone doesn't want a baby with a specific disease, does that mean that this person who gave the embryo has to watch as people deny her embryo over and over again. I do not know if this would be a problem, or if the people supplying embryos even follow up on their embryo but this seems like a potential problem to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it should be a private matter. I also think that it should not matter which disease would possibly be inherited by the offspring. Though each of these diseases has different levels of treatment, and different degrees of severity, each family should have the choice of whether or not to choose an embryo without the diseases, or to not choose and take a chance.
ReplyDeleteI am undecided because I can see different views. It should be a private matter because the embryo belongs to the parents and therefore it is their choice. It also should be government matter because I think that the price would be reduced if required by law, which would provide an equal opportunity to the public to be informed and better able to afford the procedure. Some people might not be aware of it or informed. I think a combination of the both the government and privacy might be best by requiring everyone to be informed about the procedure but not forcing the people to screen their embryo. After given the information it should ultimately be the parent’s decision.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to what amortimer said, I believe that when pre-impantation diagnosis is carried out, the embryo is that of the individual who comes in for the screening and not a donors. The reason being is because a couple, for instance, wants to conceive their own child while obtaining the info. for whether or not their embryo will have a gene for a life threatening disease. Also, as many of you guys had said, the choice is primarily dependent on the parents who are to raise the child because they are simply making a choice for the better of their future child, themselves, and peers. If PGD is not abused and regulated by government, it can be extrememly beneficial in terms of saving the future lives of many.
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