[jas3]

Well, we're all gonna die from something. They may think they have kept their daughter from ever contracting colon cancer, but what if she contracts a different cancer? What if she's hit by a car on her way home from school one day? How will they handle that? Will they feel cheated that they went through all that to save her, but still couldn't? We ain't God, and we shouldn't try to play Him.

Of course we are all going to die. But if she contracts a different cancer then they will at least be secure in the knowledge that they gave her the best start they could. That's really all one can ever do with one's children.

If she's hit by a car, I presume they will handle it the same way every other parent handles the loss of a child. Simply preventing a child from dying from cancer is not a guarantee of immortality, and certainly this girl's parents know that. I doubt very much they will feel that they were cheated because she didn't die of cancer, although they will likely feel cheated as do many parent who lose children.

We aint' God, but we still do many things to try to prevent our children from dying. If you saw your child playing on a busy street, wouldn't you try to save him, or would you argue that it is God's will that the child be struck by a car?

Different people answer that question differently. Christian Scientists believe that their children should be left entirely in the hands of God and refuse all medical care.

But others feel that children should be given every possible chance and view that selecting an embryo without a terminal genetic defect is morally equivalent to giving a sick child a life saving medicine.

I can't say that I agree that selecting an embryo without a terminal defect is "playing God". But I'm not sure that killing a blastosphere is entirely without consequence either.

jas3

[SuziQ]

But others feel that children should be given every possible chance and view that selecting an embryo without a terminal genetic defect is morally equivalent to giving a sick child a life saving medicine.

Not quite, because they're not giving those other embryos, their own kids, a chance at life because they can't be assured that their lives may not be the best they can have. Who can ever be assured of that?