Designer Babies

About a month ago I taped a segment on designer babies for Ivanhoe Productions. That segment, edited down to less than a minute, focuses on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD involves the identification and elimination of embryos with genetic disorders, such as muscular dystrophy. About two hundred TV stations will carry the segment this month, and you can read the transcript here.

Some questions to consider: Is there a difference between using medicine to cure a disorder a child has and eliminating a child who carries a disorder? What standard of perfection should we adopt? Do we eliminate diabetics? Those with cystic fibrosis? Do we want our children looking at their classmates who have genetic disorders and feeling smugly superior? Do we allow for a boy/girl preference, tolerating gender discrimination at the one-cell stage? Where do we draw the line on choice? I draw it at humanity. If it's human, it has dignity and should be respected. Humanity is created in the image of God and therefore has innate value. Where do you draw the line?