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Genetic Testing and Traditional Values
Nancy K. O'Connor, MD
Private Practice Nanty Glo, Pa
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(4):307.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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There seems to be a minor blindspot in Strong's article,1 published in the November 1993 issue of the ARCHIVES, discussing the ethics of whether or not to do prenatal testing for and/or abort fetuses because they have minor medical problems, are of the wrong sex, or have the wrong body habitus.
His problem is that the entire discussion assumes that all of our patients and society as a whole accept the basic assumptions of modern medical ethics, ie, a utilitarian ethic in which there is no ultimate meaning of life except what we, as individuals, make as the meaning.
Utilitarianism uses as its highest "value" or "good" material criteria, for example, as measured by health, wealth, and independence. There is, however, no assumption that life has an intrinsic good in itself, nor does utilitarianism claim that any deed can be intrinsically right or wrong.
As a result, some
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
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