God, humanity, and human dignity response 6 | ethics

Week 2 Re: Topic 2 DQ 2

I hold human lives at a high value. I feel that no matter the race, background, economic status, every life is invaluable and should be cherished. Bogue stated that “God caused humans to exist and desires to be involved in every aspect of their life.” (Bogues 2020) I believe this to be true, along with humans being made in His image. Because we are all made in His image, I feel that all human lives are invaluable. Although I feel that every life is invaluable, when it comes to abortions, I am on the fence. Yes, it sounds contradictory, but if an abortion happens before 8 weeks, I feel it is less of a loss than if the abortion was at 12 or 18 weeks. Due to many women having miscarriages before 12 weeks, this statistic makes my stance on the topic ”less harsh.” Tommys.org states that “an estimated 1 in 4 pregnancies will end in miscarriages. (2020). With statistics like this, how would you know if the fetus would have reached viability? As a mother, abortion is such a hard topic to come to terms with, but I know there are many reasons why women choose abortions, and I truly feel it is her body and her right to make the decision.

Designer babies are described as “either created from an embryo selected by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) or genetically modified in order to influence the traits of the resulting children. The primary aim of creating designer babies is to avoid their having heritable diseases coded by mutations in DNA.” (Pang 2016) I understand the reasoning for wanting to avoid having a child who inherits a disease like cystic fibrosis and β-thalassemia, but how do we know that eliminating certain genes will not cause other problems down the line? I feel the DNA and genetic makeup we are born with, is what God chose to give us, and sadly others have a harder life than some due to their genetic makeup. I am not for designer babies and do not feel the benefits will outweigh the possible negative outcomes in the future.

Stem cell research is another form of research and science that I do not agree with. Who really knows how the stem cells are retrieved, and it is know that many, if not all are taken from human embryos. Due to humans going to drastic measures to prove various things in science and life, I do not feel scientist are taking the ethical route 100% of the time when it comes to stem cell research, so I cannot condone it. The thought of testing on a unborn baby who does not have the consent to be used in research is not ok. This topic reminds me of African Americans being used as test subjects against their will for many years, all for research.

Reference:

Bogue, D. W. (2020). Foundational Issues in Christian Spirituality and Ethics. In 1359722830 994999576 M. Hogan (Ed.), Practicing Dignity: An Introduction to Christian Values and Decision Making in Health Care. Phoenix, AZ: Grand Canyon Univeristy. Retrieved May 5, 2021, from https://lc.gcumedia.com/phi413v/practicing-dignity-an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care/v1.1/#/chapter/1

Ronald T.K. Pang, P.C. Ho, Designer babies, Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Medicine,Volume 26, Issue 2, 2016, Pages 59-60, ISSN 1751-7214,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ogrm.2015.11.011.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751721415300063) 

Please add a line or 2 from the assigned material below, maybe 1 other source. Thank you.

https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyon-university/2020/practicing-dignity_an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care_1e.php