Transvision
2003 Panel
SUNDAY June 29, 2003
9:00-10:30am
Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 62
High St., New Haven CT
Reproductive Technology and Rights of
Future Generations
Moderator: Ron Bailey
William Grey
Ph.D.
Dept. of Philosophy, University of Queensland
"Design constraints for the Posthuman Future"
This paper examines the force of objections to
germline engineering based on the principle that we ought not place
individuals at significant risk without their consent.
Dr William Grey is a graduate of Cambridge University,
and was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the University of
Queensland in 1994. He has been involved with the development and
teaching of ethics courses across the curriculum.
George Dvorsky
Toronto Transhumanist Association
Betterhumans.com
"Reproductive Rights, Designer Babies, and the Consent of the
Unborn"
[LISTEN HERE]
State enforced limitations of human reproductive
options in the 21st century will need to be considered neugenic and
dysgenic. Assisted reproductive technologies and the advent of `designer
babies' are a legitimate reproductive option that will require
monitoring and regulation. Parents have the consent of the unborn to
commit their genome to these changes, and an ethical imperative to do so
is forthcoming.
George Dvorsky is the Deputy Editor of Betterhumans
and author of the Transitory Human column. He is also a co-founder and
the Vice-President of the Toronto Transhumanist Association. Primarily
concerned with the ethical and sociological impacts of Transhumanism and
future technologies, George actively promotes informative, honest and
open discussion for the purposes of education. George writes and speaks
on a wide range of topics, including bioethics, futurism, science,
technology and Transhumanism in general.
Dorothy
Wertz Ph.D.
American Society for Law, Medicine & Ethics
"Controversial Choices after Prenatal Diagnosis: Has Autonomy
Gone Too Far?"
Growing respect for individual autonomy in Western
nations, combined with controversial requests for prenatal diagnosis
(e.g., sex selection) do not provide evidence of a trend toward
"perfect babies," according to a survey of 2906 genetics
professionals in 36 nations and 1463 genetics patients in the US,
Germany, and France.
Dorothy C. Wertz is Research Professor of Psychiatry ,
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Shriver Division, in
Waltham, MA., and Senior Scientist at the American Society of Law,
Medicine and Ethics in Boston, MA. She has authored over 150 articles
and book chapters on ethics, genetics, and reproduction. She received
her Ph.D. from Harvard in the Study of Religion, and taught sociology
and anthropology for 18 years. Her books include Genetics and Ethics in
Global Perspective (forthcoming), Lying In: A History of Childbirth in
America, 1989, and Ethics and Human Genetics: A Cross-Cultural
Perspective (1989). She is an expert advisor to WHO, a member of the
Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Ethics Committee, Chair of the New
England Regional Genetics Group Ethics Committee, founder of Geneletter,
an online educational resource, and a contributor to Genedit at the
University of Montreal's HumGen website. She has received a 3-year grant
from NIH to study "DNA Fingerprinting and Civil Liberties".
