| Once genetic screening becomes available for
everyone who is entitled to that information? Can lawyers, insurance
companies, bankers, or prospective spouses have that information?
As more diseases and conditions can be detected by genetic screening it
becomes an issue of confidentiality. Does a person have an obligation
to tell their future spouse that they carry a gene for a disorder that
can be passed on? Will genetic screening become mandatory for every
new life insurance application? These are questions that need to
be answered.
This issue also brings up the point of separation of church and state and the differences between religious and civil codes of conduct. When laws are put into place regarding genetic testing and designer babies we must remember that people still have the right to make their own decisions according to their beliefs and religious background. Gordon sums up the both the legal and ethical debates by saying, "the morality of prenatal diagnosis serves as yet another reminder that reproductive medicine has become the crucible of controversy over the balance between individual privacy rights and the responsibility borne by out society for protecting human life. In a letter to the editor to the American Journal
of Medical Genetics the author raised an interesting question about if
parents should be allowed to make genetic choices for their children.
The author was speaking in reference to genetic testing done on children
after birth. "Performing these tests on children frustrates their
freedom to make choices for themselves once they reach adulthood, and there
is no convincing that testing is harmless for their psychosocial development"
If parents can have their children tested, could they also have their child's
finance tested before they allow a marriage? As the advances in medical
genetics continue, the legal questions also expand.
|
Back to Designer Babies