A Girl or A Boy . . . You Pick essays

A Girl or A Boy . . . You Pick essays In the July 23, 2002 issue of the Los Angeles Times Newspaper, there was an article entitled "A Girl or a Boy, You Pick" written by Aaron Zitner. The article discusses the embryo-sorting technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or "PGD" and how embryo sorting makes it possible to screen for gender and diseases prior to implantation in the uterus. In the article, the author brings up some of the ethical questions PGD raises with regard to the embryos no one wants. Is it proper to discard an embryo based on its genes or gender? Which lives are not worth living? Who decides? In this paper I will argue against embryo selection for these reasons: First of all, PGD is the ultimate form of discrimination, a discrimination based on the very building blocks of a person's life; secondly if PGD technology was available and used years ago the world more than likely would have lost the great ideals and works of contributors with genetically acquired disabilities. In the last few years a genetic basis has been discovered not just for various illnesses, but for such behavioral traits as shyness, sexual promiscuity, musical ability, risk-taking and over-eating and in the future it may be possible to select for genes that contribute to higher IQ, better eyesight, etc. PGD allows parents to specify that their children will not suffer from any "defects". But by who's standard do we define "defects"? Where do we draw the line? Isn't this genetic selection process the ultimate form of discrimination? Many parents will leap at the chance to make their children smarter, healthier and prettier and the ethical concerns will be overshadowed by the promise of creating better children. I believe that almost every parent would choose to genetically engineer their child when presented the question "Do you want to tamper with nature or would you rather leave your offspring to chance?" The way I see it, utilizing PGD technology to order ...