Final exam Flashcards
What is meant by “commodification” and how does it relate to issues of reproductive technology?
Commodification: the ability to put a value on something and sell something.
Just like athletes sell their bodies, why should a woman be denied the ability to sell her eggs?
Some say that some categories of human activities should not be for sale.
Identify the key issues of debate concerning the employment of surrogate mothers.
The surrogate arrangements are complicated- must agree on many things
Some states have outlawed surrogacy
Baby selling- arrangements cannot be confused as this. The surrogate is said to be paid for their time and efforts instead of for the baby.
What are the main issues in the controversies related to disposal of frozen embryos?
Is it right to freeze embryos? If so what do we do with the embryos if they are unused?
abortion argument
freezing eggs argument for woman with cancer
What are the main controversies related to cloning?
Why are we creating more people when we don’t need to?
cloning and birth defects
benefit: could be the only way for some people to have a child that is genetically related to them (man or woman with no sperm or eggs)
Benefit: right to reproductive liberty
against: cloning and rights of the existing clone- violates the rights to a unique identity
What are the concerns about potential coercion in the context of surrogacy?
surrogate could violate terms of the agreement
Baby M
What does Kass mean by “the wisdom of repugnance” in his article?
He says that we are repelled by the idea of cloning, just the same as we would be by human incest. But we are repulsed by it not because it is strange, but because it is a violation of our norms.
What does Brock see as potential issues conflicting with the rights to reproduce?
Argues that right to a unique identity is not very valid because the clones do not actually look or act the same
argues that the risks for that clone is a valid argument for why not to produce clones
What issues with surrogate contracts were highlighted in “the Case of Baby M”?
New Jersey court argued that the contract was not valid because it violated state adoption laws
Ruled the surrogate the mother but that the child should live with the couple. Mother got visitation rights
What are “designer babies” and why are they considered controversial?
Able to pick embryos with high level traits such as high IQ
controversial: favors the rich, creates even more of a gap because the rich people will start having more elite children
Makes regular babies who have “flaws” seem like they are the minority= unfair advantage
takes away the god given natural way of having a baby
Identify major concerns in the debate about altering human genes.
Do we need to alter genetic genes so that people are more “perfect”?
There is a risk for editing a person’s genes. Is it morally ok to edit genes if it has a risk of giving this person a disease or defect?
Editing genes affects all of the generations that follow that one person, which was not their choice. This takes away their autonomy
What are both sides in the controversy of deaf parents opting (through genetic engineering) to have a deaf child?
Side of the parents- autonomy for the parents to have a right to decide these matters.
Side against it- beneficence: concern for the child’s quality of life. Is it fair to purposely cause a child to have a condition when the quality of life for the child goes down?
Is it really morally ok for a couple who wants a deaf child to terminate the pregnancy of a child who can hear?
Purposely producing a deaf child reduces the child’s autonomy and narrows the scope of its choices when it grows up.
According to Purdy’s article, when is having children considered immoral?
Purdy states that is it immoral to have children when you know that there is a high risk of transmitting a serious disease or defect
we should use genetic testing to predict if children are at risk before they are conceived.
According to McMahan, what are the utilitarian concerns in screening technologies such as PGD?
Argues that PGD allows for the option of terminating pregnancies for children with diabilities
PGD gets rid of a certain type of group (disabled people) which is discriminatory
When you stop births of disabled people, it makes them even more in the minority, so the existing disabled people have less power and equality in society
Efforts to prevent disabled people means you express a view that disabled people should not exist.
What does Davis mean when she explores the issues of a child’s right to “an open future”?
if a family purposely has a child with a disability for whatever reason, it is violating the child’s right to an open future.
The child has to live with the disability for the rest of their life and it may narrow down its options in the future. It is taking away the child’s autonomy and taking away its right to an open future
How does Wachbroit’s article reflect a conflict between autonomy and paternalism?- informed about diseases
Should someone be told that they have a chance for a condition such as alzheimer’s when there is no cure for it? Should this genetic test even exist?
Some argue it is wrong to burden a patient with news that they cannot do anything about. This may just cause psychological harm
Other side: people should have the autonomy to choose whether or not they want to know about their genetics and what diseases they might have
Argues we should respect the patient if they want to know or if they don’t want to know
