The UK claims to regulate things such as embryo selection and the creation of designer babies. Only they don’t. Oh, the Embryo Authority might huff and tut-tut against some form of eugenic manipulation, but then they always give in. And now it appears that deaf couples will be able to manufacture intentionally created deaf embryos–because the parents would prefer their children be unable to hear. From the story:
Deaf campaigners claim that, although the vast majority of deaf parents would want a child who had normal hearing, some might prefer to create a child who was also deaf and so better able to fit in with their family. They argue that the proposed legislation is discriminatory because it gives parents the right to create “designer babies” free from inherited genetic conditions while banning disabled couples from deliberately creating a baby who shares their disability. Doctors, however, strongly oppose any plans to allow the creation of deaf babies.
The issue first came under the spotlight six years ago in America, when it emerged that a deaf couple had sought out a sperm donor with a family history of deafness. After the anger caused by that case, officials singled out deafness as being a condition that would be covered by the Bill. Ministers, however, were shocked by the strength of opposition from members of the deaf community. Campaigners now believe the removal of the reference to deafness signals a softening of the Government’s position.
They now hope that MPs will be able to amend the Bill when it is debated so that the clause banning the creation of disabled children will be dropped entirely. This, they say, would grant deaf parents equal rights with hearing parents.
Whether created to have certain “healthy” attributes or to be disabled, children are being reduced to the status of consumer products. Now, our children exist to fulfill our desires instead of us helping them find and fulfill theirs.
Mark my words: This obsession with hyper control will eventually blow up in our faces. We don’t have the wisdom to decide who should be born and who tossed into the medical waste container. More than that, we shouldn’t have the moral right. But not to worry, the new deaf child and her parents will undoubtedly soon be invited on to the destructive Oprah so we can all feel good as our anything goes culture spins out of control.