Kass: Implications of Prenatal Diagnosis for the Human Right to Life

Question 1

Argument 1

Answer 1

genetic abortion and living defectives will lead to negative views about living defectives (those who were not aborted)

Question 2

Argument 2

Answer 2

genetic abortion becomes less about preventing a disease and more about eliminating a defective being

Question 3

possible children and potential parents

Answer 3

1. we ought to try to provide every child with a minimally satisfying life (this principle can be supported by contractarian/utilitarian theories)
2. a minimally satisfying life requires normal health (note that normal health is somewhat cultural contextual)
3. a life with huntington’s disease can’t attain normal health
4. therefore, we ought not create children who can acquire Huntington’s disease

Question 4

it is one thing to claim that we ought to provide some basic good, but it is another thing to claim that…

Answer 4

we should always avoid the situation in which the good is deprived or not easily provided
- doesn’t she need a claim like: “we are forbidden from creating non-minimally satisfying lives”?

Question 5

1. we are forbidden from creating non-minimally satisfying lives

Answer 5

2. a minimally satisfying life requires normal health (note that normal health is somewhat culturally contextual)
3. a life with huntington’s disease cannot attain normal health
4. therefore, we are forbidden from creating children who can acquire huntington’s disease

Question 6

possible children

- do possible children have a right to be brought into existence?

Answer 6

no, since they do not actually exist, they cannot be maltreated

Question 7

Abortion

Answer 7

1. views of abortion can impact how one sees the morality of aborting to prevent miserable life
2. possible to believe in the equal dignity of all humans while believing that everyone deserves a high quality of life

Question 8

The case of Huntington’s disease

Answer 8

• if a person carries the defective gene, there is a fifty percent chance they will pass it on to their children
• disease usually sets in between ages of 30 and 50

Question 9

argument two (2)

Answer 9

preventing a defective person versus preventing a disease