Have you ever looked at your child and wondered what he/she would be like if you had the chance to decide their height and their eye shape? Would you jump at this opportunity? If you sit there and say yes, make sure you think about the reverberations this will have on everyone, including your child. Science is getting close to allowing parents to hand pick their children. And now it is time for American to step up and come to their senses. No one is stopping to think about the event of a defect or a mistake. No one is thinking about society and the impact on it. Although genetic engineering would eliminate disease, it would also eliminate individuality.
Society is a place where uniqueness is celebrated and encouraged. So what happens when we turn around and see 100 blond-haired blue-eyes beauties staring back at us? We encourage our children to do their best, try their hardest, and strive to get one step ahead. If we make out babies child prodigies, there is nothing life to strive for. If we start making the ‘perfect’ babies, that is just another rift in society that will keep growing. And eventually, when this gets out of hand, who is going to take the cashier jobs no one wants because they are too ‘good’ for them? We will not be able to reverse this fiasco but we can stop it before it gets out of control.
There is one aspect of genetic engineering that could be considered ‘positive’ and this is eliminating disease. But there is also downside to this. God creates people a certain way for a certain reason. Although these reasons may be almost impossible to figure out, they are still there. Messing with God’s will is not something humans should be doing. Also, in a more logical sense, what is going to happen to the doctors who research cures for cancer, doctors who treat cancer, chemists who spend months trying to find the perfect chemical, and all the other people who are in some way working with disease and cancer? Genetically engineering babies is something that would have a ripple effect on the entirety of society at some point. No one would be safe. Disease and cancer is not something any human should have to suffer through, but God does everything for a reason. We need to respect that.
What if you picked your baby to have brown hair and be 5’5’’ and she turned out to have red hair and be 5’8’’? Would you love you baby any less? Chances are no, but there are people out there who want the perfect baby and won’t settle for anything less. There would be a ridiculous number of lawsuits if parent’s babies didn’t turn out just the way they were supposed to. Genetic engineering calls into question the whole idea of parenting: loving your child unconditionally. Also, did anyone ever stop to think about what happens to the extra embryos? Studies have shown that embryos are indeed little tiny human beings. Would we just dispose of these babies, throw them out like trash? Where is the line going to be drawn? 10 embryos per couple or will it be 500? It is impossible to say, but killing all of these embryos that are not being used would be an unspeakable tragedy.
Genetic engineering is something that needs to be stopped before it gets out of hand. Whatever happened to murder being illegal? Are Americans simply abandoning their morals and values just because they have the preposterous opportunity to create ‘perfect’ children? America prides itself on equal opportunity for everyone, but what happens to the babies who are never born because they aren’t ‘perfect’ enough?
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4 comments:
You write, "What if you picked your baby to have brown hair and be 5’5’’ and she turned out to have red hair and be 5’8’’? Would you love you baby any less? Chances are no, but there are people out there who want the perfect baby and won’t settle for anything less. There would be a ridiculous number of lawsuits if parent’s babies did."
More than likely there would be a disclaimer, or a clause in the contract that would prevent lawsuits. However, in the case of sperm banks that now exist, there have been lawsuits, one regarding the race of the child, if I recall correctly.
Rather than write a vague statement, such as, "Studies have shown that embryos are indeed little tiny human beings," find a study that has been done and cite it. It will strengthen your argument.
I wanted to comment on what theteach said. It is mind blowing to even think about that people are striving to achieve such perfection through their children and would even go as far as to deny them if they werent born the exact way they were expecting them to be. I agree that we need to step up and come to our senses about this issue before it gets really out of hand. great essay.
i already think that there are some people out there right now who want to have the perfect child and will do anything to do it. i dont think that this is right; i believe that everything happens for a reason. i dont think that it is fair to the children if their parents live through them.
i dont think that parents who are so desperate to have the perfect child should have any children. if the child turns out to not be what they were 'supposed' to be, the parents might take this out on the child.
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