Genetic Testing Ethics

Genetic Counselling, Ethical Issues in Management of Hemoglobinopathies 1. Describe the risk assessment in genetic counselling. (how to diagnose the disease) (why is it important to have a genetics counsellor) Genetic counselling is a way of communication between a doctor and patient and this may include parents/family.

The practice of prenatal genetic testing, although becoming commonplace, has been put at the center of the abortion debate in the United States. Doctors should only perform prenatal genetic testing in rare cases and very sparingly in order to protect the lives of the unborn whose genome sequence may deviate from what is considered genetically ¨normal¨. Although ¨testing and abortion are not synonymous¨ (Rebouché and Rothenberg 993) these two have begun to form a clear connection in a world where abortion is now acceptable. While prenatal genetic testing makes improvements every year, there still is a risk of harming the unborn, yet living child. Not only can testing bring harm to the child, it may also lead to the parent´s terminating a

Genetic testing has raised an ethical debate. According to Mand, Gillam, Debatyckis, and Duncan (2012) neither argument has taken a strong dominance over the other. Mand et al. (2012) states that “the debate has adopted a to-and-fro pattern defined by parallel lines of argument, rarely intersecting and relying heavily on fundamentally opposed positions on core principles of bioethics with no reconciliation in sight”(Discussion, para.3).

Gattaca shows many times that genetic testing can be beneficial and has completely taken over society but at the same time provides many hardships like discrimination against certain ranks of

The Rise of Human Genetic Modification? There are many controversial issues throughout time that have risen and led countries to disagree to with one another worldwide. Eugenics and genetic engineering on humans is a topic that many believe crosses a major ethical boundary. Many scientists and ethicists believe that gene editing on human genes is unethical at certain degrees and it should not be done until the proper precautions have been overlooked and restrictions are made.

Editing of the human genome in the past has been only a sight seen in dystopia works such as Brave New World. Now, genetic enhancement is a prevalent today and people are beginning to realize the issues that can arise from creating these designer babies. Gene editing can be helpful to eradicate life changing disabilities. Yet, the term disability does not correctly label these differently abled people, as the idea of what is considered disabled has changed overtime. To fully understand the consequences and implications of genetic selection and enhancement of human embryos, society must mature and declare lines of what is and is not ethically moral.

A pressing women’s right issue that has divided the nation for the last 40 years is Abortion. It’s a procedure in which a woman medically terminates her pregnancy, this option to terminate a pregnancy has come under great fire due to moral permissibility and ethical concern. The right to abortion was granted on a constitutional basis under the landmark decision by the supreme court case, “Roe Vs. Wade” but has been attacked and attempted to be dismantled by sweltering opposition by several special-interests groups.

As technology advances, more things become possible.  One of these things is genetically modifying a baby, this is very wrong.  Genetic modifying or genetic engineering is altering someone or something’s DNA.  Scientists hope to cure diseases with this method, but doing this can lead to some harmful effects.  This process is very unethical.

A Women’s Right To Make Her Own Healthcare Decisions I am a strong pro-choice Democrat who believes that women must have the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. The landmark decision of Roe v. Wade ensured that women have the right to decide what happens to their bodies free from governmental legislation. The right for a woman to an abortion is a personal decision that should only be made by the woman through consultation with her friends, family, and medical professionals. Sadly, numerous legislators disagree with this view and continually attempt to limit a woman’s right to choose.

It is a controversial subject but the only people that are really affected by a woman’s right to choose is the woman making the decision. If a woman does not wish to continue a pregnancy or cannot support a child she should have the right to not continue with the pregnancy. A woman should have the right to choose because a woman has the right to her own privacy, she deserves a safe and sterile environment, and because her decision does not affect anyone but

For example, if there is a complication in pregnancy and the mother can suffer because of the child, I think it is ok to do abortion. It is important to understand the various ideas that go behind abortion. The right of an abortion for a mother should be left on her own decision as the mother knows best about her condition. She is going to be the 'host body ' for the baby, even though her own, for nine months and according to Thompson, the mother should have the right to decide if she wants to foster and go through with the ordeal. But still, there are also a strong debate going on about the human rights of the child:

Which is, no matter their religion, letting women, with each a different circumstance, choose weather an abortion would be best for them or not. A woman in their right mind, meaning no psychological, mental problems or anything that would cloud their judgement should be allowed to choose their right to an abortion. All woman should not be denied an abortion for some people’s religious or personal reasons. Many pro-life individuals would also say that they are OK with abortion, but only in the cases of rape and incest. This is contradictory to what most pro-life people said in my survey, that no little person was deserving of an abortion (Dominique).

Designer genetics to create a baby after careful selection is a meme, and “we can say that memes are ‘selfish’, that they ‘do not care’, that they ‘want’ to propagate themselves, and so on, when all we mean is that successful memes are the ones that get copied and spread, while unsuccessful ones do not” (Blackmore 37), and some may consider this genetic modification to be a successful meme which is why parents are so willing to try it. By using technology in this type of way, it may possibly benefit some if it is spread for good causes, such as helping a baby be born without a disease that is known to run in the family so the parents won’t have to see their child go through pain. Many parents put their faith in “23andMe” and their technology because it is their last hope to be able to conceive a child without them having to worry about any debilitating disease or disabilities and since this procedure would be implicated even before the child is developed, there would be no questions of morality. However, some people might take advantage of this new technology and use it for nothing more than creating their fantasy child, as they start to choose non-health related traits such as weight, height, gender and eye color.

Abortion is one of the most controversial topics discussed in our world today. Millions of fetuses never got a chance to be born because a mother chose to abort them. Although I do not believe in abortion, I believe a woman should have the right to decide whether to have a baby or not. Our textbook presents views and arguments on the issues. The article from our text on “A Defense of Abortion” written by Judith Jarvis Thomason states the right to have an abortion should be the pregnant woman’s decision.

Some argue that it is against Christianity. Nonetheless, holy books does not have an explicitly written text about genetic screening. The arguments are only constructed from implications of the holy texts. As the holy texts might hold many different meanings, who can know for sure, if genetic screening is just or unjust way? As this topic is very complicated dilemma and needs a further debates to come to a common consensus, one should consider two outcomes: when it is morally accepted and when it is condemned as unethical thing to do.