Posted on 09/03/2006 1:55:46 PM PDT by Coleus
As Chad Kingsbury watches his daughter playing in the sandbox behind their suburban Chicago house, the thought that has flashed through his mind a million times in her two years of life comes again: Chloe will never be sick.
Not, at least, with the inherited form of colon cancer that has devastated his family, killing his mother, her father and her two brothers, and that he too may face because of a genetic mutation that makes him unusually susceptible.
By subjecting Chloe to a genetic test when she was an eight-cell embryo in a petri dish, Mr. Kingsbury and his wife, Colby, were able to determine that she did not harbor the defective gene. That was the reason they selected her, from among the other embryos they had conceived through elective in vitro fertilization, to implant in her mother’s uterus.
Prospective parents have been using the procedure, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or P.G.D., for more than a decade to screen for genes certain to cause childhood diseases that are severe and largely untreatable.
Now a growing number of couples like the Kingsburys are crossing a new threshold for parental intervention in the genetic makeup of their offspring: They are using P.G.D. to detect a predisposition to cancers that may or may not develop later in life, and are often treatable if they do.
For most parents who have used preimplantation diagnosis, the burden of playing God has been trumped by the near certainty that diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia will afflict the children who carry the genetic mutation that causes them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
the slippery slope, the end does not justify the means.
Once government begins to define life and humanity, there is no end to the possibilities for subjective and selective determination as to who will be allowed to live.
Oh, isn't this a heartwarming story? They choose the kids they want, and kills those that they don't. Pelosi's heart must be warmed by this great news.
Graphic: Screening Embryos for Future Disease P.S. Enlarge the graphic to read it.
What do you do with your fingernail clippings? Do you mourn every time you spit? People discard small numbers of cells all the time. These embryos were not in the womb and would never develop into people unless placed there. I understand that it's a gray area but I'm pro-life and see nothing wrong with what they did.
I wonder if dad Chad wishes he'd been "culled."
No you are really not pro-life. You have defined the moment life begins, at implantation. This is not a "small amount of cells" this is a life, who has not yet been implanted in a womb. Life begins at conception.
Anyone see Gattaca ? The slippery slope of eugenics. Once you get down that path... it's pretty scary.
My fingernails do not go on to become children. We used to love and protect the unborn.
I understand your perspective. Even among embryos that do implant, a sizable fraction spontaneously abort with the woman not even aware she was pregnant.. we don't hold women for skipping a period, but not producing a child, as potential "child killers". However, there is a danger that this will cross from screening for a fatal disease to screen for something far more capricious... small height? low intelligence? blue eyes?
On the other hand, my sister went through the heartbreak of having a baby that had brain cancer. She died at 7.5 months, the last 6 weeks of her life spent in intensive care. Could she have been blamed for "pre-screening" if she had had the option? Not an easy choice.
Typical. Someone else's life isn't worth living if they (may) have a set of circumstances you wouldn't want. I wonder if the guy thinks his parents shouldn't have lived since they have colon cancer. I wonder if he develops it, will he regret having lived. I wonder what these people think sometimes. We are all going to die some day. Even if you can prolong it for decades, there's always the possibility of you just getting killed by younger people to get you out of the way. I guess you can live with principles or rationalizations.
Yes I have that clear right, i am a thinking human being after all. Sorry.In objective reality you are pro-life only after implantation of an embryo. This isn't a subjective issue. It is an objective reality that you don't accept that life begins at conception. If you are offended, oh well. Sorry, you are not pro-life.
That's the most sane post I've read on one of these threads in a long time. Good for you.
They are cells in a petri dish...
This is just Eigenics at an earlier stage than was available before. Oh I know they will say it does prevent human suffering including that of the child, parents and society.
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