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Ethical genetic screening from birth
The ethical dilemma of prenatal genetic testing
Ethical argument for prenatal screening
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Child is a gift from God. Every parent hopes for a healthy child. Abnormalities in the fetus growth have become common nowadays. These abnormalities may be due to physical, radiation and chemical factors. The most common factor is due to genetic mutation, which causes mental retardation, abnormal body buildup and other conditions, which bring a lot of troubles in the future to the child themselves and their parents. Modern technologies and innovations in the medical field had developed a method known as prenatal screening to detect the abnormality before birth and prevent this future tragedy to happen. It is screening for the detection of fetal diseases, usually by ultrasound examination or by testing the amniotic fluid obtained by amniocentesis (Williams & Wilkins, 2004). It is available to all pregnant women. Others screening techniques may include maternal serum, placental biopsy, and genetic test. There are several advantages and disadvantages of prenatal screening.
There are several techniques of prenatal screening. The most common is blood testing. It is used to determine the blood type and Rh factor of a mother and the fetus. This is to prevent the complication caused by antigen-antibody reaction of Rh group of the mother and the fetus which may lead to haemolytic anemia. Besides that, blood test is also able to detect some of the blood borne diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, C and D and rubella. Ultrasound, on the other hand, can determine the growth and development of a fetus in the amniotic sac. It can detect structural defects such as spinal bifida and anencephaly, congenital heart defects, gastrointestinal and kidney malformations and cleft lip. Furthermore, genetic test is used to determine the chromosome condit...
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...ration in the future, for example, autoimmune disease. When prenatal screening detects this condition, some of the immunosuppressed drugs can give to the baby to suppress the immune system. In the point of view of doctors, prenatal screening provides them with knowledge on the condition of the future, thus enable good information to the parents. By doing that, it prevents them from medical legal issues. Therefore, prenatal screening will actually guarantee the future generation with a better life and protect the doctors from medical issue.
In conclusion, prenatal screening has both benefits and harms. It will enhance a better generation and prevent the doctor from medical issues. On the other hand, it increases the abortion rate and gives rise to the human right issues. By thinking rationally toward the positive sides, prenatal screening actually benefits to us.
beliefs of society. If society imposed a law that it was immoral to have children if you are extremely poor because u can not provide for them and the child’s life wont be satisfying, one could argue that with a little time the mother could move out of poverty and thus have a “good” life, or that the child may find life satisfying without much beyond basic necessities. The author claims that mandatory testing will be beneficial because it can help produce healthy children, yet assumes that all pregnant women at risk will get tested. If testing becomes mandatory many woman who avoid testing, either out of the fear of knowing if they have the disease or that they will pressured into terminating the pregnancy, many woman may avoid prenatal care all together, thus imposing more health risks on the fetus and the mother.
Laura Purdy gives the example of Huntington’s disease, which she relates it to all other genetic disorders, it is an autosomal dominant trait, meaning that it has a fifty percent chance of being passed down from generation to generation. Huntington’s disease occurs between the ages of thirty too fifty. It is a progressive disease that leads to constant contractions and irregular movements of the body eventually resulting in death. Purdy’s reasoning for her claim that it is immoral to reproduce without prenatal screening is because of genetic diseases like Huntington’s disease, it makes an average person become subjected to prolong suffering. Purdy also thinks that passing down a genetic disease like Huntington’s without their consent and risking their welfare is wrong because we aren’t taking the future being into account.
Healthy people 2020 states “The risk of maternal and infant mortality and pregnancy-related complications can be reduced by increasing access to quality preconception (before pregnancy) and interconception (between pregnancies) care. Moreover, healthy birth outcomes and early identification and treatment of health conditions among infants can prevent death or disability and enable children to reach their full potential.” (CITE HEALTHY PEOPLE) Objective maternal, infant, and child health (MICH)1.1 has the goal of “reducing the rate of fetal deaths of fetuses at 20 or greater weeks gestation”. (C...
second, prenatal testing, is a testing of a fetus at risk for the disease. The
18. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Maternal serum screening. ACOG Educational Bulletin, 1996; no. 228.
There is also a high-resolution ultrasound scanning that can detect chromosomal and physical abnormalities in the first trimester as opposed to the second trimester. A technology such as this can create many ethical problems. Mcfadyen describes the biggest problem as being informed consent. “They may believe that it will provide information only about gestational age and be unaware of the range of abnormalities that can be detected. Recent research suggests that many women are not told beforehand of the first scan’s potential to detect fetal anomalies.”
Spielman, B. (1995). [Review of Women and prenatal testing]. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 23, 199-201.
In today’s world, people are learning a great deal in the rapidly growing and developing fields of science and technology. Almost each day, an individual can see or hear about new discoveries and advances in these fields of study. One science that is rapidly progressing is genetic testing; a valuable science that promotes prevention efforts for genetically susceptible people and provides new strategies for disease management. Unnaturally, and morally wrong, genetic testing is a controversial science that manipulates human ethics. Although genetic testing has enormous advantages, the uncertainties of genetic testing will depreciate our quality of life, and thereby result in psychological burden, discrimination, and abortion.
Stoate, H. G. (1989). Can health screening damage your health? J Roy Co11 Gen Practitioners; 39:193-195.
...ce of mortality, education can also be given to them about healthy child development and what to expect when they deliver their child. This can help reduce the amount of children becoming ill. A program such as the one described can have a positive impact and has the potential of saving millions of lives.
Prenatal genetic screening in particular is a polarizing topic of discussion, more specifically, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is one of the two techniques commonly used to genetically screen embryos in vitro; it is usually done at the eight-cell stage of division. PGD is most often performed when there is the risk that one or both parents carry disease-causing mutations. It is extensively used by high-risk individuals trying to conceive babes who will be free of particular mutations. PGD can test for over 50 genetic conditions and even allows for sex selection if there are underlying gender-associated medical conditions. When the results are satisfactory, the selected embryo is implanted into the mother’s uterus. While a controversial technique, preimplantation genetic diagnosis is one example of some of the good genetic testing can do, more benefits will be furthe...
(2) Even people that don 't have any disease could be more prepare, and prevent it from developing in the future by being more aware thanks to the genetic test provided. Genetic screening is another valuable technology that could help a parent keep track of their baby 's health by examining their chromosomes. Genetic testing and screening could impact the life all patients in a positive way, therefore the opposing side should be grateful, and take advantage of this opportunities provided. For example, a person goes to genetically test themselves in a clinic, and they come to find out that they could potentially develop heart problems in the future. Now they can be more aware, and prepared. They could in many different ways like changing their diet or exercising more so they could better protect their heart, and decrease the chances of having the heart problems, like they where presented in the genetic test. What if the person didn 't know they had a chance to have problems? and start eating unhealthy foods that could likely speed up their changes of developing a heart disease. My point is that the same thing goes to those parent who want to get a update of their unborn child 's health. Many healthy mother don 't really expect that their pregnancy will bring some implications, but in
Being healthy while pregnant is an important factor when considering carrying a baby. The risk of dying by giving birth is higher than having an abortion (ProCon). Not at women can handle the negatives of giving birth and survive through them. If a woman is aware that should is not healthy enough to give birth, she
Research Proposal: Should People be tested before having Kids? Children are a necessity to continuing legacies, and as such, they are vital to society. However, it would not be the best option for some people to carry on their genes, as they are unfit as both future parents and people. This is why I propose a test for both physical, mental, and emotional stability of a person before having children as my paper topic.
Newborn screening is a system that consists of 5 parts in which the pediatrician holds a vital role.