LOS ANGELES — Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), using a specialized branch of the in vitro fertilization process to scan human embryos for flaws and undesirable defects, was covered in a recent Los Angeles Times feature. Although some welcome the chance to weed out potential diseases and handicaps, others warn that the process encourages researchers to try to create a “superior” human product.
Because it is a search-and-destroy process, countries like Austria, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland have outlawed PGD. France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy all have passed regulations. Britain will not allow PGD for sex-selection.
President George W. Bush’s Council on Bioethics has yet to issue a ruling on the matter. But the guidelines the Council is using accurately portray PGD as carrying the threat of shifting America’s genetic composition and “tempt[ing] the unwitting or the unscrupulous toward experiments” in which embryos’ genetic code is manipulated.
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
