Ethics in Pre-Natal Testing and Eugenics

Ethics in Pre-Natal Testing and Eugenics

  • Submitted By: coollsybjy
  • Date Submitted: 03/06/2011 2:30 PM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 1061
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 447

Ethics in prenatal testing and Eugenics
Science and morality have hard time co-existing alongside one another. Throughout the human history, advancement in science often challenged the established norms of morality, while constraints of morality hampered scientific ideas and inventions. Prenatal diagnosis and eugenics epitomize this inherent conflict between science and morality. What should be preferred by society – scientific utility or moral conscience? This paper hopes to answer this challenging question through the discussion of prenatal diagnosis and eugenics. By discussing the concept of prenatal diagnosis in the context of eugenics, this paper will argue that while it is useful and somewhat beneficial, prenatal diagnosis cannot be morally or ethically justified considering its problematic implications and effects on society which can be summed up as: (1) fostering of genetic discrimination; (2) technical inaccuracy and imperfection; and (3) morally adverse influence on society. This paper will propose a moderate conclusion for this debate, which will maintain that prenatal diagnosis must be used with caution, and its results should not be allowed to encourage abortions or any other measures to harm the wellbeing of the fetus or the pregnant.
During the Holocaust, tens of thousands disabled people were killed by Germans who considered them as unnecessary and invaluable people. Germans killed and eliminated these people in the society to have healthier and intelligent genes and this can be seen as form of eugenics and genetic discrimination. Similarly, the purpose of the prenatal testing is to screen the genetic disease in the fetus, leading to genetic discrimination on unhealthy babies who have genetic diseases or current people with disability (Bromage 2006). With prenatal testing, there is a high potential for couples to terminate their pregnancy to have healthier and more preferable babies and this could change their thoughts...

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