Human Germline Manipuation and Cloning as Women's Issues
By Marcy Darnovsky,
GeneWatch
| 06. 30. 2001
While the prospect of genetically "redesigned" people challenges humanity as a whole, it particularly threatens groups that historically have been disempowered. And because human germline engineering and cloning are so closely tied to reproduction, they are of special concern to women.
The New Eugenics and the Commercialization of Reproduction
Already, prenatal screening and preimplantation diagnosis make it possible to eliminate fetuses and embryos with a number of identifiable genetic conditions. As disability rights activists point out, these developments put women in the position of "eugenic gatekeepers." Inheritable genetic modification, to whatever extent it turns out to be technically possible, would amplify the powers of eugenic selection many times over.
If a new "free-market eugenics" were to take hold, who would actually exercise "consumer preference" for genetic "enhancements?" Who would decide what was on offer?
Human cloning and germline engineering would move decisions about reproduction further away from women, not only toward doctors and technicians but also toward marketers proffering the "enhancements" developed by biotech companies. Women could find themselves simultaneously losing ever more control of their own childbearing experiences, and...
Related Articles
Flag of South Africa; design by Frederick Brownell,
image by WikimediaCommons users.
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What is the legal status of heritable human genome editing (HHGE)? In 2020, a comprehensive policy analysis by Baylis, Darnovsky, Hasson, and Krahn documented that more than 70 countries and an international treaty prohibit it, and that no country explicitly permits it. Policies in some countries were non-existent, ambiguous, or subject to possible amendment, but the general rule remained, even after one...
By Tamsin Metelerkamp, Daily Maverick | 11.18.2024
The National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) has confirmed that heritable human genome editing (HHGE) remains illegal in South Africa, after changes in the latest version of the South African Ethics in Health Research Guidelines sparked concern among researchers that...
By Bernice Lottering, Gene Online | 11.08.2024
South Africa’s updated health-research ethics guidelines, which now include heritable human genome editing, have sparked concern among scientists. The revisions, made in May but only recently gaining attention, outline protocols for modifying genetic material in sperm, eggs, or embryos—changes...
By Jantina de Vries, EthicsLab | 11.15.2024
The conversation around human heritable genome editing (HHGE) in South Africa is marked by controversy and conflicting interpretations of the law. At the center of this debate lies a team of lawyers based at a South African university, who have...