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dfishervan's picture

Gene therapy as a parental choice

Although there are many sides to this debate, I do see merit in Crystal's argument. The decision for gene therapy should be a personal one. We have to remember that certain people allow their genetics to dictate whether or not they decide to have biological children. Some people find their genetic diseases to be so detrimental that they could not bear to risk inflicting it on another person, especially their offspring. Giving people the option of gene therapy could give these people the opportunity to have children of their own without fearing about passing on this particular disease. While the parent will be giving consent for an experimental, potentially risky procedure for without consulting their (future) child, I don't see how this is any different than other circumstances where parents must choose what is best for the child. We allow parents to use their discretion to determine whether or not to sign off on experimental surgeries and treatments to fix certain medical issues once the child is born. In a sense, a person with a genetic disease who opts for gene therapy is just doing what he/she thinks is best for their child. Maybe to prevent people from taking advantage of gene therapy to create designer babies, there should be criteria and mandatory counseling that determine whether or not a person is eligible to utilize this type of therapy.

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