Bourgeois pigs kill suicidal 16 year old boy.

[FireIceTalon]

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.

Okay. So why isn't it the mother's right to choose if their child has blue eyes and blonde hair? Or, for that matter, six eyes, wings, and solar panels? If it's entirely up to the mother, then what right do the rest of us have to tell her she can't modify the genetics of her fetus?

And if you're going to say "because that's a Pandora's box," then by what right to mothers have the right to abort fetuses with Down Syndrome? That's the same Pandora's box.

-Jester

Aborting a fetus, Down Syndrome or not, does not have social consequences - only circumstantial and personal ones within the individual situation. This has nothing to do with freedom, just like being pro Life has nothing to do with freedom or rights for the child. Milton Friedman was a capitalist propagandist that framed individual freedom as some "choice" of a lifestyle that was sold to us wrapped in nice fancy words and catch phrases as our own enslavement. Anyways...

Designer babies is nothing more than Nazi eugenics wrapped in a 21st century bourgeois package. Firstly, only the wealthy will be able to afford it, and thus it is just a new twist on some concept of the creation of a 'master race' but with more of a class foundation to it. A new genetically advanced political class, with a genetically inferior class created to be their slaves, so the door swings both ways - I can see it coming already if this ever becomes a norm. This can easily also be used in a 'social darwinian' context to create a gene pool that gradually weeds out other 'undesirables' in society. If we found a gene in people that leads to homosexuality, are we going to eliminate that gene to prevent the child from being gay or lesbian, just because we don't like it? And repeat the process until the entire population is a reflection of the ruling classes idea of what a 'perfect person' is? Pretty fucked up if you ask me. The same applies to hair, skin, eye color. It has fascism, racism, sexism, and discrimination in general written all over it.

Secondly, the above problems aside, the whole concept is dripping with egoism, the desire to control, and shallowness. One of the most interesting things about us is that our genes are so random and it is what makes a diverse gene pool. This isn't about personal preference of hair, skin, or eye color, or trying to weed out undesirable personality traits, this is about creating a friggin robot that has YOUR desired phenotype and personality. The whole idea is selfish at best, completely narcissistic and shallow at worst. In general, I find the whole thing repulsive.

Lastly, without considering the above social and ethical repercussions, there are lots of significant genetic risks involved. Undesirable, permanent side effects, including disease are very possible, and many genes have very important connections to others and the environment. Even the best scientists cannot possibly predict the paramount negative outcomes that may occur as a result of tampering with our complex genetic code. This is just a way for people to try and "play god", and it is a very dangerous and risky idea at best when humans are involved; a very bad idea at worst.

This and abortion (for disabled fetuses or otherwise) are not the same Pandora's box, they aren't even in the same ballpark. Even though I disagree with you politically most of the time, I am very surprised that you of all people here support this crud, and don't see the dangers in it - unless you are just playing Devil's advocate (which I hope you are). I do not see how any reasonable person that doesn't wear a swastika sign can advocate this. Defending capitalism is one thing, but this isn't tenable.