EDST 391 Ethics & the Human Genome

Name:
Date:
"Calendar"

Assignment for Day 19
Prenatal genetic testing
Becky, Jaclyn, and Nikki 's day!

Required readings:

Parens, Erik. (1999). The Disability Rights Critique of Prenatal Genetic Testing Reflections and Recommendations, The Hastings Center, Vol. 29, No. 5, 1-11. NOTE: Pages S1-S7, S11 only. Please IGNORE boxed-in article content on pp. 4-5, 8-10.
Please review Case studies in biomedical ethics (Day 15)

Thinking Assignment:

Background: Imagine you are a doctor whose patient undergoes prenatal genetic testing of her fetus for Down's syndrome. The test comes back positive for Downs, that is, the baby would very likely have Downs. She and her husband have an appointment with you today to get the test results. You have been thinking about what to say and what kind of conversation to hold with them; you also reread Case studies in biomedical ethics (Day 15) preparing for your conversation. They enter your office.
Questions: (you might jot down notes for class discussion)
1. What does the ensuing conversation sound like?
2. What ethical principles (from Case Studies) are you relying on as you guide it?

Writing Assignment:

Background: The Hastings Center report discusses prenatal testing from the perspective of "disabilities rights." The disabilities community does not oppose abortion, but only the selective abortion of children who would be born with disabilities. The pages you have been assigned detail the disabilities rights' argument and then the counterarguments.
Questions:
1. What are the key ethical arguments, claims, and counterclaims described in the article? Pull out the essence of what's being argued back and forth.
2. Drawing again on the article, how do individual family situations affect calculations of what is ethical or not in genetic testing? Feel free to illustrate your points with the scenario in the thinking assignment.
3. If the governor were asked to draw a line between genetic disorders that morally justify abortion and those that do not, where should he draw it? You may draw on this reading, your views, or any other source. Be brief, concise, and highlight what is most important. Lists are fine. Try to keep it to one to 1.5 pages single-spaced, total.

Quiz: