11-10-2012, 05:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2012, 06:24 PM by FireIceTalon.)
(11-10-2012, 10:25 AM)Jester Wrote: I don't understand how you reconcile this position with being okay with aborting a fetus who would have Down syndrome. If it's okay to do eugenics in some cases, why not others? You say it's "doing them a favour," but of course, this is the argument for all eugenics, and all transhumanism.
-Jester
Aborting a down-syndrome baby simply falls into the fact that I am pro-choice and believe that no one can tell a woman what to do with her body. Abortion being a form of eugenics is very hotly debated, but I fall into the camp that says that it isn't. I know you are emphasizing motive here (Down Syndrome), but at the end of the day this comes down to the mothers rights to choose. I think many people with Down Syndrome are prone to have a much harder life than someone who doesn't, but I or anyone else is in no position to make that judgement if they should be aborted or not - that is the mothers call and hers only. For many working class or single poor mothers, aborting a Down Syndrome fetus may also be a preferable choice for economic reasons, as many of these children might have additional expenses (such as therapy or special programs for disabled children to help them in life better - many of these can be very costly). Uff, that last statement sounds horrible, because now it probably seems like I am putting a price on someone's life, but that isn't my intention. I believe full rights and equality for disabled people (once they are born), and it is heart breaking to me that in some situations a mother will be forced with such a decision - aborting a child they may possibly still want but facing potential economic and financial ruin if they dont (and this goes for disabled or non-disabled fetuses). Either way, it is the mothers decision, but I don't think she should be scrutinized for motive either, whatever her decision is.
But genetically engineered humans and designer babies is a completely different thing altogether - It opens up possibilities for all kinds of abuse, and in general I just see much more bad coming out of it then good - the scientific, social, and political consequences are potentially disastrous, and once that box is open, there is no closing it. I never have nor ever will be in favor of eugenics.
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"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)
"Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class, made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the economic conditions of the existence of your class." - Marx (addressing the bourgeois)