No clear message on immorality of killing based on sex and disability EDMONTON, Sept 16 (LSN) – In a panel discussion of ethical, legal and policy issues involved in genetic research which took place at a genetics conference in Edmonton last weekend, experts in the field discouraged the idea of selectively aborting babies because of genetic defects such as Down’s Syndrome, but failed to recommend an end to such procedures. University of Alberta professor Dick Sobsey voiced concern over genetic screening for and the elimination (by abortion) of, defective pre-born children. “In regard to some of the conditions that we’re looking at eliminating … placing a negative value on these without understanding their natural role may be extremely dangerous.” Unfortunately, however, Dr. Sobsey was not prepared to recommend restrictions against genetic testing, including for “Down’s syndrome, sex or eye colour,” reported the Edmonton Journal. Dr. Sobsey, himself, has a son with severe developmental disabilities, and he noted that often scientists and the public wrongly assume that people with disabilities lead unhappy lives. Arguing his point, the professor cited a study in which people who require respirators for breathing, and their caregivers, were asked to rate the quality of their own lives. While both groups scored similarly in rating their own lives as ‘not wonderful, not terrible’ (scoring 5.2 out of 8), when the caregivers were asked to rate the quality of those in their care, the ratings dropped to 2 out of 8. Dorothy Wertz, another speaker at the conference, defended wide-open genetic testing on the basis of the radical feminist view that abortion on demand is a fundamental element of women’s rights. “There will always be a certain fringe who will make odd decisions that the rest of us wouldn’t take, but I say let them be,” said Wertz, senior specialist in social science, ethics and law at the Shriver Centre for Mental Retardation in Waltham, Mass.
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GENETICS CONFERENCE REFUSES TO CONDEMN GENETIC TESTING FOR ABORTION
No clear message on immorality of killing based on sex and disability EDMONTON, Sept 16 (LSN) – In a panel discussion of ethical, legal and policy issues involved in genetic research which took place at a genetics conference in Edmonton last weekend, experts in the field discouraged the idea of selectively aborting babies because of genetic defects such as Down’s Syndrome, but failed to recommend an end to such procedures. University of Alberta professor Dick Sobsey voiced concern over genetic screening for and the elimination (by abortion) of, defective pre-born children. “In regard to some of the conditions that […]
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