Ethics of Forced Sterilization to Eliminate Genetic Diseases

SLAM: debunk creationism, pseudoscience, and superstitions. Discuss logic and morality.

Moderator: Alyrium Denryle

User avatar
TheFeniX
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4869
Joined: 2003-06-26 04:24pm
Location: Texas

Re: Ethics of Forced Sterilization to Eliminate Genetic Dise

Post by TheFeniX »

Losonti Tokash wrote:You may run into some resistance arguing for the "gentle" genocide of Ashkenazi Jews, Cajuns, and French Canadians.
Aren't certain native Americans gene lines predispositioned to alcoholism? Or was that just a bunch a pseudo-science bullshit due to people trying to ignore environmental factors?

Anyway, the wife just got her results back and she's a carrier for CF, so now I have to go get stabbed for science! In the case I'm also a carrier, adoption is a possibility even though it's stupidly expensive for what they sell white kids for. I honestly don't mind having a baby of another race (neither does the wife), but just a cursory look at the system brings up the inherent racism and money-pit involved.

We've also considered the sperm donor route as my brother and sister have enough kids to keep my gene line flowing for centuries.

But hey, why not just sterilize my wife when there's perfectly viable alternatives out there? Makes sense.
User avatar
Broomstick
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 28724
Joined: 2004-01-02 07:04pm
Location: Industrial armpit of the US Midwest

Re: Ethics of Forced Sterilization to Eliminate Genetic Dise

Post by Broomstick »

The difference is "voluntary" vs. "forced".
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. Leonard Nimoy.

Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.

If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy

Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
Chirios
Jedi Knight
Posts: 502
Joined: 2010-07-09 12:27am

Re: Ethics of Forced Sterilization to Eliminate Genetic Dise

Post by Chirios »

Forced sterilisation is both completely evil and unnecessary. Genetic screening is much better, coupled with easier artificial insemination.
User avatar
kc8tbe
Padawan Learner
Posts: 150
Joined: 2005-02-05 12:58pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Ethics of Forced Sterilization to Eliminate Genetic Dise

Post by kc8tbe »

Your question is irrelevant because of this:
You're proposing sterilizing the carriers? Not people with an actual genetic disease, but just those carrying undesirable recessive genes? Do you have ANY idea how common such recessives are within the population?
Forget where I read it, but if you put together all the deleterious autosomal recessive genetic alleles you would end up having to sterilize roughtly 1/3 of the population. More if you go for alleles that are deleterious but not seriously so, like overbite. Leaving aside ethics, if you implemented the program you'd really be shooting your gene pool in the foot from a diversity perspective.

Also, we have techniques like PGD that can prevent transmission of such alleles in most cases without needing to resort to sterilization. So again, there's really no point at all to your question except maybe as a plot device for some alternative dystopian reality.
Post Reply