Prenatal testing and PGD...

Both of my bioethics classes this week focused on prenatal testing and PGD (genetic testing done on IVF embryos), which are two of my favorite bioethics topics. In one of my classes we discussed the issues of public policy and legislation regarding these procedures; in the other class we discussed the ethics of these procedures, spending a lot of time on the disability rights activists' critique that these procedures are discriminatory because they lead to selective abortion or non-implantation of disabled embryos. I really enjoyed being able to approach the same topic from two different angles, and to get the Australian perspective on this topic, especially since Australians are not nearly as PC as Americans.

As a side note, I also learned something new about America, which has been happening quite a bit lately. Many of the articles that I read pointed to Martha's Vineyard as a prime example of disabilities being socially constructed. Apparently in the 1800's and early 1900's, Martha's Vineyard had a large deaf population. The deaf and hearing created an inclusive, cohesive community in which they worked together, intermarried, and communicated through sign language (it's even said that, at times, the hearing used sign language to communicate with other hearing). As the economy changed from farming, in which the deaf could easily participate, to tourism, the deaf moved to the mainland for work and the community slowly dissipated. Anyway, I found the example to be quite fascinating. There's a lot of information online if you're interested, and here's a link to a short NPR broadcast about a play that was written about Martha's Vineyard (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6254177).