Is PGD A Slippery Slope Toward Weeding Out “Undesirables”?
In sum, at the level of the entire population, the consequences of PGD are likely to be much more dramatic than the consequences of amniocentesis and late-term abortion of genetically impaired offspring. Since PGD is a much easier option, emotionally and morally, people who use it will virtually always (if not always) reject an impaired embryo. And this means that society could come to think of people with Downs Syndrome and other genetic impairments as mistakes that should never have been made. People with Downs Syndrome deserve the respect and kindness of their fellow human beings. To ensure that they have it, our society must think carefully about whether to permit the use of a technology that promises to screen such people out of the population. To the extent that some did remain with us, even under a PGD regime, their status as pariahs would be nearly guaranteed. And to the extent that PGD’s promise were fulfilled, our eyes might turn next to other “undesirables,” ripe for screeni
