Personally, I think Heather D has the right to not be tested for Huntington's Disease. I'm not sure what the treatment options for Huntington's are, but in my opinion, so long as there is not a treatment Heather could be undergoing to decrease the severity of her disease if it does set in, than I think it is okay for her not to know. Although the preimplantation diagnosis solves the issue of Heather not wanting to know, I do not think that discarding the embryo who has the disease is a solution to her husband not wanting to have a selective abortion. In my opinion, those two are essentially the same, since the decision results from them not wanting to raise a child with Huntington's. Although, since people do have the right to choose, I can not say that Heather and her husband are wrong for choosing this option as opposed to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion.
I also believe that Heather has the right to decide whether or not she wants to know if she has Huntington's or not. I can see how knowing may make a person want to live their life to the fullest while they still can, but at the same time, some may view this information as a death sentence. They may find out their diagnosis and choose to end their life, or to not fulfill it as they might have before they found out. I personally do not agree with the genetic counselor's decision. I believe discarding the embryo's that have Huntington's is the exact same idea as selective abortion. It is still a life that you are ending. I can understand not wanting to pass on this horrible genetic defect to your offspring, but I personally could never go through with the decision to discard selected embryo's. But every person is entitled to make their own decisions and live with their own set of consequences.
I have to disagree with Heather not wanting to know. It might be wise not knowing what will effect you later in life, but Heather has a 50/50 chance. How much could her life improve if she new that she was free of the Huntington's gene. She and her husband could conceive naturally and not have to worry about any pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. If she does happen to have the gene she will understand the true value of time. Since Huntington's is genetic she can expect to follow closely in her fathers footsteps. It might be a little morbid to know what your going to die of, but there is no cure for the disease, just supportive and symptomatic care.
I feel that it would be a personal choice about whether or not someone wanted to know that they were at risk for a diseased based on gene testing. I could especially understand the desire not to know in cases where there really wasn’t a treatment for what the person might potentially have because then if they are positive for it they’re waiting for that deterioration to happen. However, as I said before I think it honestly depends on the person and his or her life views. Concerning the second two questions I do think for Heather it solves the problem of her accidentally discovering if she carries the gene however, I do think it is fairly similar on a moral level to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion therefore, it doesn't really solve Heather's husbands problem.
I think that Heather should get tested to see if she has the gene and also her husband should be tested. If they end up carriers of something or she has then they can move on from there. I understand not wanting to know, but when it comes to children you need to know what could happen. I also think that if her husband does not agree with abortion, that he may not like the idea of discarding embryos because they have a defect. It could be seen as the same as selective abortion and prenatal diagnosis.
I agree with most people on this case. I think that Heather has the freedom to choose whether or not to find out if she is carrying the Huntington's gene. Personally, I would like to know, because I could start planning for the future if I was positive, but if I was not a carrier it would be a huge weight off my shoulders. But I feel she has the right to choose for herself.
If this couple were to undergo preimplantation diagnosis with their embryos, and "defective" embryos were discarded, I would consider it to be the same thing as selective abortion. In both cases, they would be opting to end an unborn child's life because of a genetic imperfection. I strongly feel that these two things are the same, and if Heather's husband is truly against abortion, he should opt against this process.
I think it is solely Heather's choice whether or not she wants to know if she has the gene for Huntingtons. Like Camille said she could handle that sort of news in different ways that could essentially ruin the remainder of her life. I believe the counselor's suggestion could be a problem solver in the fact that the couple can have a child or children without the disease and heather can go without having to know if she is a carrier or not of the gene. When it comes to just discarding the affected embryos though I believe it is morally equivalent to selective abortion because they are knowingly destroying the embryo like they would in an abortion; this goes against the husbands beliefs in the long run.
It's Heather's choice to be tested. If she doesn't want to know then she has that option. I agree with Camille's statement. If she did get tested and was positive, she may start to do things that she normally wouldn't do because she knows her life will end at a certain time. She may also experience feelings of depression or thoughts of killing herself rather than go throught the suffering of the disease killing her. I think the counselor's suggestion is a suiting one. Heather and her husband don't want to have an abortion. They really want a child toghether and they want one that will not have the disease. This is really the only way they could safely achieve their goals. I think that preimplantation genetic diagnosis and discarding the affeccted embryos is the same as prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. In the diagnosis they're really only testing before the embryo begins to grow, so it's just at an earlier stage. Discarding the affected eggs is the same way, it occurs at an earlier stage of the embryos life. Some said that it was morally wrong to discard the affected eggs, but they weren't going to be put to use. Heather and her husband want a child that does not have the disease, so they obviously aren't going to use the affected embryos. Even placed in storage, I don't think anyone else would want to use them either.
I am going to reiterate everything everyone else said but here it is anyway. Heather does have a right to chose to know or not if she has the Huntington's gene. If I were Heather, I would want to know. If she has the gene, there is a possibility that she will get it in several years so why not find out now? I would consider that Heather's husband is morally opposed to abortion. It would depend on Heather's husband to decide if the solution the genetic counselor came up with is abortion or not because it could go against his morals.
I also believe that it's Heather's choice whether or not she gets tested. Whether or not it is wise is dependent on her outlook. She could be unselfish and get tested so that her child would not get the disease at the expense that she would have the knowledge that she would get the disease herself. So whether or not it's a "wise" decision is really up to her. The second question also depends on her outlook and whether or not that she believes that the embryos are condsidered humans. In my personal opinion, it is the same as prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion, but then again, perspectives about abortions can be altered when a presenting problem is at hand. So maybe the woman might make an exception becuase she can rationalize that she will be doing more good than bad.
Like most of the other people here, I do too agree that it is Heather's personal decision for her to get tested or not. She might just want to live a regular life and if she has the disease then she might just want the disease to come when it comes and then deal with it then. If she expects the disease, then she might develop depression and her life would feel like pointless since she knows that she is going to die eventually. I do think that the gentic counselor does provide a good solution to Heather and her husband's problems because they do not want a kid with the gene to Huntington's, but I do not agree with it. Discarding the embryos is basically the same thing as selective abortion because you are getting rid of a life, even though it is an embryo. So, I do not think Heather will use that as a solution because her husband is against abortion. Maybe they'll take a chance and just have a baby the regular way with no genetic testing, there is a chance that the baby will not carry the gene. I hope they make the best decision that is right for their situation.
Heather's choice to get tested or not tested for the gene inheritance of Huntingtons is a tough one. Knowing a girl who has undergone genetic testing for ALS after the passing of her mother, I can somewhat relate to the stress of someone undergoing that disease. If Heather's choice it to not know whether she has the disease or not, then selectively choosing an embryo that is not a carrier can be a tough decision. If she did forgo genetic testing, it could let her know if all the money and worry even needs to be spent on genetic testing or not. Every situation has a negative. If you do the test, you can find out its negative and have sigh of relief. If it is positive then for the rest of her life and her childbearing decisions will be based on the worry that she may develop the same disease that her father had. The genetic counselors test may be a satistactory solution, but if she is told that some of the embryos are positive, then her wishes are denied because she now indirectly knows the results of the test she is choosing to bypass.I do not agree with discarding of embryos or selective abortion and although they are not technically the same, morally they share many of the same characteristics. They both lead to in a way "selecting" which child is good enough to be born which is in itself very morally correct. Since I cannot place myself in this situation it is very hard for me to say that I would ever or could ever undergo either.
Brittany Buechel: I believe Heather's decision is wise. If she knew she had the gene, it could stop her from havig a family altogether. Also, it might make her live differently than the way that she wanted to live her life. If she did do the testing and figured out she wasnt't a gene character, a lot of anxiety could be relieved, but I do not think her life would change much other than that. I think for their situation the genetic counselor's suggestion does not provide a solution to their problem. Both Heather and her husband are against prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion so quietly discarding the embryos taht are affected with the gene go against their beliefs. So the genetic counselors solution is the same thing as abortion and prenatal diagnosis. I think they are both morally equivalent. If a couple can prenatally diagnose and then abort a pregnancy they are not satisfied with, then that same couple would not have a problem with preimplantation genetic diagnosis and discarding of the affected embryos.
I personally think that Heather D's decision not to be tested for the Huntington's gene is a totally wrong decision. Even if she knew that she inherited the disease, there are ways/technologies with which she could still be able to bore a child or her progeny. Since her husband is morally opposed to abortion, (that's right) I think still the genetic counselor's suggestion is morally wrong to some extent. I think on the positivity side, Heather D and her husband would be able to have a child/children without this genetic disease. On contrary, it still seems as killing/abortion if the embryos found carrying the defective gene are discarded/destroyed. Therefore the suggestion by the genetic counselor might help solve the problem and they can raise a family. But still its ignorant of Heather not agreeing to undergo the testing to determine whether she has the defective gene or not. I personally think that the preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of the affected embryos is equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion.
First of all, I think it should be Heather’s choice entirely as to whether or not she wants to know if she carries the Huntington’s gene. Each person should have that choice without pressure from their physician. As to whether or not it is “wise”, many people including her physician would probably say it is unwise to not be tested. However, if Heather and her husband have agreed they want a baby and would not abort it under any circumstances, I don’t think it is unwise for Heather to not be tested. If the couple is wanting to get pregnant and the chance of disease is present, they may just trust God enough to give them the exact child that is best for them, disabled or not. I think they could be strong people and probably be wiser than people think to not want to mess with the birth process. I do think the suggestion made by the genetic counselor is a possible option and one that should be offered, again, for Heather and her husband alone to decide upon. I’m not sure how Heather feels about this option, but since I am against destroying an embryo under any circumstances, I don’t think this would be a good option for me. I think whether it is a fetus in the embryonic stage, life is present and all stages represent a human being with worth and value. With Heather’s husband against abortion, I think he might feel the same way. That leads me to the third question in the study. I do feel that preimplantation diagnosis is valuable and can help a mother/couple prepare for what they might be dealing with in terms of disease/disability when becoming pregnant. Having this type of knowledge prior to birth of a baby could be very helpful. Yet, if this knowledge would be used to discard an embryo that is not wanted because it would be born with a disease or be disabled is definitely wrong. To me destroying the embryo is no different than aborting a fetus.
I believe that Heather does have a choice on whether or not to be tested for Huntington’s disease or not. I think that I would want to get testes, but if I found out I was positive, I may become depressed knowing that my life won’t be as long as I thought it would. Since there is a possibility that that her child could attract the gene, I fell like if she does find out she has it, they can prepare to help and do anything they can to make sure they can help the child. This would work out because Heather and her husband don’t want to have an abortion. I agree with Matt when he talks about how he doesn’t think it’s wrong if they discard the unhealthy embryo since the parents don’t want to have the child get the disease. I also believe that even if they stored the unused embryo, I think people won’t want to use them because they could be affected with the disease.
I think that Heather D does have the right to not know if she has the inherited gene. It may change the way she lives her life for the good or bad. I think personally I would not want to know if I had the disease. I do not think the genetic counselor's suggestion is a satisfactory one. There may be case that all the embryo's have the gene then none will be implanted and Heather D could end up finding out if she has the gene herself. I also believe that the discarding of the embryo's is morally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. If the father does not believe in selective abortion then the discarding of the embryo's should be something he does not believe in as well. The suggestion could against both the husband and Heather D's beliefs.
ALong with the others who commented before me, I believe that she has the decision whether or not to be tested for Huntington’s disease. I agree with her in not getting tested because if she knew that she would have the gene it would stop her and her husbnad from starting their own family and that is something that they want to do. I do think that the genetic counselor's suggestion porvides a satisfactory solution to the problem because it is giving them a choice if the want a child with that gene or not. But I think that it would go against what the couple believes in. I feel like if Heather would know that she had this gene she would even consider this a possibility because she may feel upset and think that she may pass the gene on to the kids, but this consideration may give the family hope since they would discard the ones with the gene.
I beleive that the preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of affected embryos is morally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. I would say they would be similar because you could be having a baby without doing this process and it has the disease and you didn't have an abortion on it, but if you discarded one of them during preimplantation genetic diagnosis it would, to me, be considered an abortion because you are killing something that could have the potential to live a life.
Although I do not agree with Heather's decision to not be tested for Huntington's disease, I still believe it is her decision. No one can make her get tested for the disease. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis would solve the problem of having a child with the disease, but the issue of what to do with 'infected' embroyos comes into play. My moral beliefs are that there is human life at conception. Given my beliefs, I consider selective abortion and 'quietly discarding' the embroyos with Huntington's disease the same thing. If I were in Heather's situation, however, I would first begin this process by testing myself for the disease.
I definitely think that it is Heather's choice to test for the gene. I don't think I would go get tested because I wouldn't want to hear bad news. I would want to just have my baby normally but if she wanted to do preimplantation genetic diagnosis I would understand. However, I don't believe in "getting rid of" infected embryos. I think she would need to do something helpful with the embryo if she didn't use it to have a child.
Personally, I think Heather D has the right to not be tested for Huntington's Disease. I'm not sure what the treatment options for Huntington's are, but in my opinion, so long as there is not a treatment Heather could be undergoing to decrease the severity of her disease if it does set in, than I think it is okay for her not to know.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the preimplantation diagnosis solves the issue of Heather not wanting to know, I do not think that discarding the embryo who has the disease is a solution to her husband not wanting to have a selective abortion. In my opinion, those two are essentially the same, since the decision results from them not wanting to raise a child with Huntington's. Although, since people do have the right to choose, I can not say that Heather and her husband are wrong for choosing this option as opposed to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion.
I also believe that Heather has the right to decide whether or not she wants to know if she has Huntington's or not. I can see how knowing may make a person want to live their life to the fullest while they still can, but at the same time, some may view this information as a death sentence. They may find out their diagnosis and choose to end their life, or to not fulfill it as they might have before they found out. I personally do not agree with the genetic counselor's decision. I believe discarding the embryo's that have Huntington's is the exact same idea as selective abortion. It is still a life that you are ending. I can understand not wanting to pass on this horrible genetic defect to your offspring, but I personally could never go through with the decision to discard selected embryo's. But every person is entitled to make their own decisions and live with their own set of consequences.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with Heather not wanting to know. It might be wise not knowing what will effect you later in life, but Heather has a 50/50 chance. How much could her life improve if she new that she was free of the Huntington's gene. She and her husband could conceive naturally and not have to worry about any pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. If she does happen to have the gene she will understand the true value of time. Since Huntington's is genetic she can expect to follow closely in her fathers footsteps. It might be a little morbid to know what your going to die of, but there is no cure for the disease, just supportive and symptomatic care.
ReplyDeleteI feel that it would be a personal choice about whether or not someone wanted to know that they were at risk for a diseased based on gene testing. I could especially understand the desire not to know in cases where there really wasn’t a treatment for what the person might potentially have because then if they are positive for it they’re waiting for that deterioration to happen. However, as I said before I think it honestly depends on the person and his or her life views. Concerning the second two questions I do think for Heather it solves the problem of her accidentally discovering if she carries the gene however, I do think it is fairly similar on a moral level to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion therefore, it doesn't really solve Heather's husbands problem.
ReplyDeleteI think that Heather should get tested to see if she has the gene and also her husband should be tested. If they end up carriers of something or she has then they can move on from there. I understand not wanting to know, but when it comes to children you need to know what could happen. I also think that if her husband does not agree with abortion, that he may not like the idea of discarding embryos because they have a defect. It could be seen as the same as selective abortion and prenatal diagnosis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most people on this case. I think that Heather has the freedom to choose whether or not to find out if she is carrying the Huntington's gene. Personally, I would like to know, because I could start planning for the future if I was positive, but if I was not a carrier it would be a huge weight off my shoulders. But I feel she has the right to choose for herself.
ReplyDeleteIf this couple were to undergo preimplantation diagnosis with their embryos, and "defective" embryos were discarded, I would consider it to be the same thing as selective abortion. In both cases, they would be opting to end an unborn child's life because of a genetic imperfection. I strongly feel that these two things are the same, and if Heather's husband is truly against abortion, he should opt against this process.
I think it is solely Heather's choice whether or not she wants to know if she has the gene for Huntingtons. Like Camille said she could handle that sort of news in different ways that could essentially ruin the remainder of her life. I believe the counselor's suggestion could be a problem solver in the fact that the couple can have a child or children without the disease and heather can go without having to know if she is a carrier or not of the gene. When it comes to just discarding the affected embryos though I believe it is morally equivalent to selective abortion because they are knowingly destroying the embryo like they would in an abortion; this goes against the husbands beliefs in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIt's Heather's choice to be tested. If she doesn't want to know then she has that option. I agree with Camille's statement. If she did get tested and was positive, she may start to do things that she normally wouldn't do because she knows her life will end at a certain time. She may also experience feelings of depression or thoughts of killing herself rather than go throught the suffering of the disease killing her. I think the counselor's suggestion is a suiting one. Heather and her husband don't want to have an abortion. They really want a child toghether and they want one that will not have the disease. This is really the only way they could safely achieve their goals. I think that preimplantation genetic diagnosis and discarding the affeccted embryos is the same as prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. In the diagnosis they're really only testing before the embryo begins to grow, so it's just at an earlier stage. Discarding the affected eggs is the same way, it occurs at an earlier stage of the embryos life. Some said that it was morally wrong to discard the affected eggs, but they weren't going to be put to use. Heather and her husband want a child that does not have the disease, so they obviously aren't going to use the affected embryos. Even placed in storage, I don't think anyone else would want to use them either.
ReplyDeleteI am going to reiterate everything everyone else said but here it is anyway. Heather does have a right to chose to know or not if she has the Huntington's gene. If I were Heather, I would want to know. If she has the gene, there is a possibility that she will get it in several years so why not find out now? I would consider that Heather's husband is morally opposed to abortion. It would depend on Heather's husband to decide if the solution the genetic counselor came up with is abortion or not because it could go against his morals.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that it's Heather's choice whether or not she gets tested. Whether or not it is wise is dependent on her outlook. She could be unselfish and get tested so that her child would not get the disease at the expense that she would have the knowledge that she would get the disease herself. So whether or not it's a "wise" decision is really up to her.
ReplyDeleteThe second question also depends on her outlook and whether or not that she believes that the embryos are condsidered humans.
In my personal opinion, it is the same as prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion, but then again, perspectives about abortions can be altered when a presenting problem is at hand. So maybe the woman might make an exception becuase she can rationalize that she will be doing more good than bad.
Like most of the other people here, I do too agree that it is Heather's personal decision for her to get tested or not. She might just want to live a regular life and if she has the disease then she might just want the disease to come when it comes and then deal with it then. If she expects the disease, then she might develop depression and her life would feel like pointless since she knows that she is going to die eventually. I do think that the gentic counselor does provide a good solution to Heather and her husband's problems because they do not want a kid with the gene to Huntington's, but I do not agree with it. Discarding the embryos is basically the same thing as selective abortion because you are getting rid of a life, even though it is an embryo. So, I do not think Heather will use that as a solution because her husband is against abortion. Maybe they'll take a chance and just have a baby the regular way with no genetic testing, there is a chance that the baby will not carry the gene. I hope they make the best decision that is right for their situation.
ReplyDeleteHeather's choice to get tested or not tested for the gene inheritance of Huntingtons is a tough one. Knowing a girl who has undergone genetic testing for ALS after the passing of her mother, I can somewhat relate to the stress of someone undergoing that disease. If Heather's choice it to not know whether she has the disease or not, then selectively choosing an embryo that is not a carrier can be a tough decision. If she did forgo genetic testing, it could let her know if all the money and worry even needs to be spent on genetic testing or not. Every situation has a negative. If you do the test, you can find out its negative and have sigh of relief. If it is positive then for the rest of her life and her childbearing decisions will be based on the worry that she may develop the same disease that her father had. The genetic counselors test may be a satistactory solution, but if she is told that some of the embryos are positive, then her wishes are denied because she now indirectly knows the results of the test she is choosing to bypass.I do not agree with discarding of embryos or selective abortion and although they are not technically the same, morally they share many of the same characteristics. They both lead to in a way "selecting" which child is good enough to be born which is in itself very morally correct. Since I cannot place myself in this situation it is very hard for me to say that I would ever or could ever undergo either.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Buechel:
ReplyDeleteI believe Heather's decision is wise. If she knew she had the gene, it could stop her from havig a family altogether. Also, it might make her live differently than the way that she wanted to live her life. If she did do the testing and figured out she wasnt't a gene character, a lot of anxiety could be relieved, but I do not think her life would change much other than that. I think for their situation the genetic counselor's suggestion does not provide a solution to their problem. Both Heather and her husband are against prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion so quietly discarding the embryos taht are affected with the gene go against their beliefs. So the genetic counselors solution is the same thing as abortion and prenatal diagnosis. I think they are both morally equivalent. If a couple can prenatally diagnose and then abort a pregnancy they are not satisfied with, then that same couple would not have a problem with preimplantation genetic diagnosis and discarding of the affected embryos.
I personally think that Heather D's decision not to be tested for the Huntington's gene is a totally wrong decision. Even if she knew that she inherited the disease, there are ways/technologies with which she could still be able to bore a child or her progeny. Since her husband is morally opposed to abortion, (that's right) I think still the genetic counselor's suggestion is morally wrong to some extent. I think on the positivity side, Heather D and her husband would be able to have a child/children without this genetic disease. On contrary, it still seems as killing/abortion if the embryos found carrying the defective gene are discarded/destroyed. Therefore the suggestion by the genetic counselor might help solve the problem and they can raise a family. But still its ignorant of Heather not agreeing to undergo the testing to determine whether she has the defective gene or not. I personally think that the preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of the affected embryos is equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think it should be Heather’s choice entirely as to whether or not she wants to know if she carries the Huntington’s gene. Each person should have that choice without pressure from their physician. As to whether or not it is “wise”, many people including her physician would probably say it is unwise to not be tested. However, if Heather and her husband have agreed they want a baby and would not abort it under any circumstances, I don’t think it is unwise for Heather to not be tested. If the couple is wanting to get pregnant and the chance of disease is present, they may just trust God enough to give them the exact child that is best for them, disabled or not. I think they could be strong people and probably be wiser than people think to not want to mess with the birth process.
ReplyDeleteI do think the suggestion made by the genetic counselor is a possible option and one that should be offered, again, for Heather and her husband alone to decide upon. I’m not sure how Heather feels about this option, but since I am against destroying an embryo under any circumstances, I don’t think this would be a good option for me. I think whether it is a fetus in the embryonic stage, life is present and all stages represent a human being with worth and value. With Heather’s husband against abortion, I think he might feel the same way.
That leads me to the third question in the study. I do feel that preimplantation diagnosis is valuable and can help a mother/couple prepare for what they might be dealing with in terms of disease/disability when becoming pregnant. Having this type of knowledge prior to birth of a baby could be very helpful. Yet, if this knowledge would be used to discard an embryo that is not wanted because it would be born with a disease or be disabled is definitely wrong. To me destroying the embryo is no different than aborting a fetus.
I believe that Heather does have a choice on whether or not to be tested for Huntington’s disease or not. I think that I would want to get testes, but if I found out I was positive, I may become depressed knowing that my life won’t be as long as I thought it would. Since there is a possibility that that her child could attract the gene, I fell like if she does find out she has it, they can prepare to help and do anything they can to make sure they can help the child. This would work out because Heather and her husband don’t want to have an abortion. I agree with Matt when he talks about how he doesn’t think it’s wrong if they discard the unhealthy embryo since the parents don’t want to have the child get the disease. I also believe that even if they stored the unused embryo, I think people won’t want to use them because they could be affected with the disease.
ReplyDeleteI think that Heather D does have the right to not know if she has the inherited gene. It may change the way she lives her life for the good or bad. I think personally I would not want to know if I had the disease. I do not think the genetic counselor's suggestion is a satisfactory one. There may be case that all the embryo's have the gene then none will be implanted and Heather D could end up finding out if she has the gene herself. I also believe that the discarding of the embryo's is morally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. If the father does not believe in selective abortion then the discarding of the embryo's should be something he does not believe in as well. The suggestion could against both the husband and Heather D's beliefs.
ReplyDeleteALong with the others who commented before me, I believe that she has the decision whether or not to be tested for Huntington’s disease. I agree with her in not getting tested because if she knew that she would have the gene it would stop her and her husbnad from starting their own family and that is something that they want to do. I do think that the genetic counselor's suggestion porvides a satisfactory solution to the problem because it is giving them a choice if the want a child with that gene or not. But I think that it would go against what the couple believes in. I feel like if Heather would know that she had this gene she would even consider this a possibility because she may feel upset and think that she may pass the gene on to the kids, but this consideration may give the family hope since they would discard the ones with the gene.
ReplyDeleteI beleive that the preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of affected embryos is morally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. I would say they would be similar because you could be having a baby without doing this process and it has the disease and you didn't have an abortion on it, but if you discarded one of them during preimplantation genetic diagnosis it would, to me, be considered an abortion because you are killing something that could have the potential to live a life.
Although I do not agree with Heather's decision to not be tested for Huntington's disease, I still believe it is her decision. No one can make her get tested for the disease. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis would solve the problem of having a child with the disease, but the issue of what to do with 'infected' embroyos comes into play. My moral beliefs are that there is human life at conception. Given my beliefs, I consider selective abortion and 'quietly discarding' the embroyos with Huntington's disease the same thing. If I were in Heather's situation, however, I would first begin this process by testing myself for the disease.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that it is Heather's choice to test for the gene. I don't think I would go get tested because I wouldn't want to hear bad news. I would want to just have my baby normally but if she wanted to do preimplantation genetic diagnosis I would understand. However, I don't believe in "getting rid of" infected embryos. I think she would need to do something helpful with the embryo if she didn't use it to have a child.
ReplyDelete