Can you answer these few questions in this case?

janelle11

Heather D is a 24-yr. old female whose father suffers fron Huntington's disease, an autosomal dominant genetic disease whose symptoms first emerge (ordinarily) betwen the ages 30 and 50. Huntington's disease is characterized by a progressive physical and mental deterioration leading to death in ten to fifteen years. Heather D knows that there is a 50 percent chance that she has inherited the defective gene from her father, but she has decided not to undergo testing to determine whether she has inherited the gene, because she would rather not know. heather D and her husband wantto have a child, but both of them have a strong desire that their child not be at risk for Huntington's disese. They have rejected the possibility of prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion, in part because heather D realizes that diagnosis of her fetus as carrying the defective gene would entail the knowledge that she also carries the gene, and because heather D's husband is morally opposedto abortion. A genetic counselor has suggested an alternative involving preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Several embryos could be tested for the presence of Huntingotn's gene, with only embryos free of the gene being transferred to heather's uterus. If any embryos were found to carry the defective gene, they wold be quietly discarded.

Please answer these questions:
Thankyou!


1.) Is Heather D's decision not be tested for the HUntington's gene a wise one?

2.) Does the genetic counselor's decision provide a satisfactory solution to the problem?

3.) Is preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of a affected embryos orally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion?

I would really appreciate all youe opinions!

thanks!

aticus

Sounds like school homework. I'll answer anyway:

1.) Is Heather D's decision not be tested for the HUntington's gene a wise one?

Absolutely not. This is obviously someone who is in denial about potential life-threatening health risks, and is just willing to "leave it up to God". Nothing frustrates me more than people like these. She's probably also the type NOT to examine her breasts each month for potential breast cancer.

If there were any possible potential cure for this disease in the future, she'd deny herself the opportunity for it mainly because she's not even willing to consider it. Early detection could save her life, but I guess she's not wise enough for that.

2.) Does the genetic counselor's decision provide a satisfactory solution to the problem?

Only if you're an atheist or agnostic or some other religion that allows this. Catholic? Forget it. The Church opposes many things, not the least of which is the discarding of unused embryos (hence the opposition to stem cell research).

Personally, I'm all for it. I don't believe the Church's assertion that a mass of cells outside a human body that hasn't even really begun to have cellular division is a fully human person.

3.) Is preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of a affected embryos orally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion?

See above. If you're a religious fundamentalist, then yes, it's abortion. Otherwise, no.

janelle11

aticus wrote: »

Sounds like school homework. I'll answer anyway:

1.) Is Heather D's decision not be tested for the HUntington's gene a wise one?

Absolutely not. This is obviously someone who is in denial about potential life-threatening health risks, and is just willing to "leave it up to God". Nothing frustrates me more than people like these. She's probably also the type NOT to examine her breasts each month for potential breast cancer.

If there were any possible potential cure for this disease in the future, she'd deny herself the opportunity for it mainly because she's not even willing to consider it. Early detection could save her life, but I guess she's not wise enough for that.

2.) Does the genetic counselor's decision provide a satisfactory solution to the problem?

Only if you're an atheist or agnostic or some other religion that allows this. Catholic? Forget it. The Church opposes many things, not the least of which is the discarding of unused embryos (hence the opposition to stem cell research).

Personally, I'm all for it. I don't believe the Church's assertion that a mass of cells outside a human body that hasn't even really begun to have cellular division is a fully human person.

3.) Is preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the discarding of a affected embryos morally equivalent to prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion?

See above. If you're a religious fundamentalist, then yes, it's abortion. Otherwise, no.

I have a comment on your answer in question one.
I think we should also respect her autonomy as well but yeah the problem in respecting one's autonmy would override the principle of nonmaleficence(avoiding harm). True that it is not a wise decision, if she would find out early then she can prepare for it. THen again, it is her decision, maybe for her it may do more harm to her in some way if she finds some bad news from testing.