THBT parents should be allowed to select for desirable genetic traits in their offspring - rebuttal speeches

Second proposing speech

Ladies and Gentlemen, after reading the arguments of the opposer team , I have noticed some misunderstanding. therefore, I would like to clear up some points .

First of all , I want to mention the fact that we are clearly supporting the moral use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). As my teammate underlined ,IVF is essentially invented to produce babies free of a hereditary or genetic disease that their parents may have .We are not talking about changing the color of the eyes or the modification of the features as we are pointing out the importance of this scientific evolution in saving life from hereditary diseases and give them the chance to live a better life.Any use except this comes in the second plan. So we should consider the principal and ethical aim of the IVF. (Continues below the fold.)

by SM

Second opposing speech

Our dear friends from the opposing team are trying to persuade us that parents should be able to select for desirable genetic traits in their offspring. But the fact is, had it been this way, then we may not be able to admire the ‘A Brief History of Time’ and the famous theories about ‘black holes’ because as we all know, the greatest genius ever after Newton and Einstein, Stephen Hawking, is unluckily almost entirely paralyzed due to a genetic disease. And we should say, luckily, his parents didn’t know PGD and avoided a great loss of the whole human race. (Continues below the fold.)

by FS

Second preparing speech

Ladies and Gentlemen, after reading the arguments of the opposer team , I have noticed some misunderstanding. therefore, I would like to clear up some points .

First of all , I want to mention the fact that we are clearly supporting the moral use of in vitro fertilization (IVF). As my teammate underlined ,IVF is essentially invented to produce babies free of a hereditary or genetic disease that their parents may have .We are not talking about changing the color of the eyes or the modification of the features as we are pointing out the importance of this scientific evolution in saving life from hereditary diseases and give them the chance to live a better life.Any use except this comes in the second plan. So we should consider the principal and ethical aim of the IVF.

The opposers just said that " science without conscience is the soul’s perdition". I totally agree with them in this side but it doesn't mean that we should cut with science .Indeed , with that way of thinking we risk to never improve. Besides , As we accepted the drawbacks, sometimes harmful, of nuclear use , robotic development because we know how beneficial they may be we should do the same with IVF.

Why are we even wondering about how great it is to help those threaten people? Aren't we encouraging the charity associations to following in their magnificent role in helping people ?I am personally involved in an association that helps teenagers who are unfortunately affected by the cancer to realize their projects because they are locked in the hospital and are totally unable to do it themselves. Yes I am comparing cancer to any other hereditary diseases . Yes I am comparing IVF to a charity act ,simply because I would be happier if I could know that I can save their life not just trying to make them do with their pain. I would be much more proud after comforting parents with legitimate fears of having babies with certain genetic diseases. So do you ! We are trying hardly to find a treatment against the cancer , AID and so many other diseases I didn't really get how we can say no to a solution for the hereditary diseases ? 

In addition , I strongly believe that the IVF is able to be useful in other cases. In effect, it can lead to the maintain of the variety of the human being .To be more clear ,let s take an example: If a couple decide to have a baby and they already have ,let s say,  a boy  they can ,thanks to the IVF, have a girl . You are maybe thinking that it is kind of modifying genes thus going against nature. Well it is not. What I am saying is at any way distinguishing a sex from another or going against our faith . I am just trying to emphasize the fact that IVF can has , maybe not in this moment , a very important role as far as it can save a hole population from disappearance. We are actually trying to save our race by taking away an asteroid of the earth, IVF has to be seen as an eventual new way to do it .

Finally , I am asking you to think deeply before refusing this new technology made by human beings to effectively give a hand to human beings.

Think You , and vote for us

SM

Second opposing speech

Our dear friends from the opposing team are trying to persuade us that parents should be able to select for desirable genetic traits in their offspring. But the fact is, had it been this way, then we may not be able to admire the ‘A Brief History of Time’ and the famous theories about ‘black holes’ because as we all know, the greatest genius ever after Newton and Einstein, Stephen Hawking, is unluckily almost entirely paralyzed due to a genetic disease. And we should say, luckily, his parents didn’t know PGD and avoided a great loss of the whole human race.

The most exciting thing that I can imagine for parents is when welcoming the birth for their child and that’s why it’s shocking and frightening for me to hear that parents select for desirable genetic traits for their child. No surprise! No pleasure! It’s just a product like any others! And what the child feels? Oh, all my life has already been decided without asking me. How terrible it is! Still remember hearing many of my friends saying, ‘I was baptized without being asked.’

As the proposers say, thanks to PGD technique, there will no longer be any genetic diseases. However, I think that with our current technology, we can just do some tests to know whether the child will have certain genetic diseases or not and it’s for parents to decide whether we do an abortion or not. So how do we make the choice here? I totally agree that if the embryo has a gene of Down’s syndrome or Huntington’s disease, I will do an abortion. But what if it’s a genetic disease that takes place only at the end of our life, like 80 years old? And what if it’s our genetic disease is color blindness? Then, are you still ready to abandon you future child which is your crystallization of love? Besides, there are still many diseases that we still don’t know their DNA order so impossible to avoid all diseases.

What’s more, the PGD technique isn’t mature enough for the moment. It’s not safe and efficient enough and it may leads to accidental abortion. Who will take the risk if ever an error takes place? What if we correct a good gene with an illness one? And what if we ignore fatal genetic traits? Who will take the responsibility? The doctor, the parents, or the government who allows this law?

I absolutely agree that under ideal conditions, we should just need PGD for curing genetic diseases. However, in reality, things are quite different. Take the example of the use of B-mode ultrasonography in China. This technology is used to test if the fetus is good health or not. Just like the PGD but in an organic level. It’s a quite cheap and practical technology, that why it’s so popular in China. But it’s in certain way misused because it’s becoming a sex-telling tool and there are many abortions due to it. The horrible and painful consequence is that the population of male and female is totally out of balance in China. Standing in the whole country standpoint, logically, I think we are all convinced that the problem is much more serious as there are more than 10 percents of male than female compared to genetic diseases which only concerns a certain number of people.

Hence, it’s quite reasonable to accept that we can never limit ourselves to the simple application for the genetic diseases by the example of China. We, as normal human beings, will naturally be leaded to develop the PGD technology in the guide of our curiosity and temptations. For example, why not chose the color of our children’s eyes by the way? And why not the color of the skin for the reason of beauty? And why not the height? And the nose? Even the weight? Who knows! I feel that there will be a great revolution thanks to this high technology. However, I’m a little afraid as well. Afraid that it will be like the cosmetic surgery which takes place in South Korean. It’s sure that everyone is genetically perfect , which is as normal as we are much more beautiful after cosmetic surgery. But every one just looks like each other and we lose the greatest treasure that we have, the variety! We will be fed up with our look, with ourselves, which is terrible! So let’s stop our imagination about the terrible consequences here and end the nightmare. Let’s conclude by, ‘Oh, no! It’s really a slippery slope and we risk our life. Let’s take another road! ’

Actually, there are millions of others methods to have a healthier baby, like prohibition of consanguineous marriage, advocates of child-bearing age and taking attention during the pregnancy.

In a word, let’s say NO to this dangerous right for the parents to select for the desirable genetic traits in their offspring and vote for us!!!

FS