The UK may be on the verge of allowing parents to choose to make their child deaf. Richard Gray of the UK Telegraph reports: Deaf couples could be allowed to use embryo-screening technology and choose to have a deaf child, after a climb-down by the Government in the face of campaigning.
Technically, a new bill before the House Commons would classify deafness as not a serious medical condition, thereby opening the doorway for couples choosing to have their child be deaf. In addition:
The Bill has already angered many MPs and church leaders because it will permit the creation of hybrid embryos, where human DNA is inserted into animal cells for research, and will also remove the requirement for a father in couples undergoing fertility treatment.
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.
I am full of compassion for people who are deaf. They are truly afflicted. But imposing this disability on a child who doesn't have to be deaf is unconscionable. It is not so different from purposely taking a child and destroying its hearing.
The genetic engineering Pandora's Box opens wider.
Hat tip: Dennis Sevakis
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