Useful Eugenics

This article by Jacob Appel presents the argument that genetic screening is not eugenics, it is a useful tool we now have to present children's suffering. He says that if a mother has the option to prevent her child from getting a disease that it is child abuse for her to decide against correcting the defective genes.

I think that genetic screening is very similar to eugenics. Altering the genes of a child to make them more desirable is still eugenics. It is the act of preventing a certain gene from being passed on. This is just a more moral way of going about it instead of simply denying certain people the option of reproducing.

The moment genetic alterations go beyond this fundamental idea involving diseases and quality of life, the line between right and wrong will become much foggier. Choosing what a child looks like is a much different idea and does not affect their quality of life unless it involves some drastic abnormality such as a cleft lip.

The problem with the knowledge we are developing now is that we are messing with the population and natural selection and ultimately going against the natural ways of the world. But at the same time it is human nature to want to help others. In situations like this our medical advances should be both celebrated and feared. We have the ability to change things that we really shouldn't have control over. The things that help this generation will be devastating generations from now when over population is an even bigger problem than it is today and people are living much longer. Also, it is probable that the more diseases we are able to prevent, newer and stronger strains will develop. But all of this can only be determined in time. We will constantly be racing our medical sciences against diseases' natural abilities to transform and grow stronger.