                          Some Good Questions

                        Rev. C.A.Jennings, D.D.

Recently I read a newspaper article discussing situational ethics and
Genetic research. Seems it is quite possible to determine the diseases
we are likely to have and when they will occur and this even led an
insurance company to declare that it would not cover a newborn infant
because it was determined (through testing the fetus' DNA) that the
baby would be born with Cystic Fibrosis and this would be a "pre-
existing condition"

We could make good use of technology like this. We can (or will soon
be able to ) tell at conception whether our children will be
alcoholics (so that we can steer them away from careers such as airline
pilot, etc.). And we will know which people are going to drop dead at 25. Thus
we could determine not to put a lot into their education since it would be a
pretty high cost/benefit ratio.

Lots of interesting (to me, anyway) questions surfaced in the piece. These are
issues that we are beginning to have to face today.  The government funding of
the project may even provide that some of the money be spent on ethical
considerations. Now isn't THAT a twist?

It didn't really say what will happen to that little CF fetus.  Will it be
aborted, or will the parents be bankrupted by providing for its care without
any insurance coverage, or will the insurance company be magnanimous and pay?
Will we all have to have our DNA checked before we can get jobs or buy
insurance?

Who can say? WE can. And I think that it's time to start thinking about some
answers.







   (c) 1989, 1990 Rev. C.A.Jennings -- Pastor, ULC CompuChurch (tm)
                          All Rights Reserved
                     Published and distributed by
              CompuChurch (tm) International Headquarters
                            (504) 927-4509
  Permission to electronically display and transfer this textfile is
     granted subject to inclusion of complete copyright statement.

 