Præimplantationsdiagnostik - Sundhedsstyrelsen

i.e. change of attitudes and choices connected to reproduction. 3. Problems
associated with prioritisation of for example the use of economic resources
on specific patient groups. Besides these special problems with PGD there
is one fundamental IVF-derived problem with PGD, namely the question
of the moral value of the early human life. Danish legislation on termination
of pregnancy and artificial insemination is not based on a defined
understanding of the moral value of early human life, but contains indications
of the liberal understanding of the status of the beginning of a human
being. This understanding implies a so-called gradualistic point of view
on the status of the beginning of a human being: human life has a gradually
increasing moral value from fertilisation to birth.
The problem of discarding potential children with specific (unhealthy)
characteristics are similar in PGD and hitherto known types of genetic
testing like amniocentesis. The Danish Council of Ethics has in a report on
embryo diagnosis and ethics (Foster-diagnostik og etik) put forward the
viewpoint that abortion may be ethically justified in case a genetic or chromosomal
aberration leading to a severe illness is diagnosed. One may say
that the Council by this viewpoint did formulate the foundation for the
Danish legislation in respect to PND. A point of view which supposedly
may be transferred to PGD. However, the issue of when and to what extent
the beginning human life has a claim to protection, depend on an interpretation,
which is connected to the understanding of life or philosophy of life
of the individual. Accordingly, the introduction of PGD seems to be compatible
with the Danish legislative framework for PND. In many countries
there seem to be two crucial principles behind the legislation regarding
abortion – the respect for the autonomy of the individual and the respect
for the inherent value of human life. Because the respect of the value of
the human life is dependent upon the individual attitude towards conscience,
most people believe that the principle of autonomy ought to have
precedence. This point of view could also be used upon the question
whether PGD should be introduced in Denmark.
With respect to the three special groups of problems, the ethical analysis
concludes that (1) the use of PGD presupposes that actual analyses of the
risk for the future children exist, (2) it has to be assured (eventually by legislation)
that PGD should only be used for testing embryos for that particular
genetic defect for which a couple has a known risk, (3) the resource
consumption as a consequence of a possible introduction of PGD should
be evaluated together with the ethical aspects of the total priority-setting.
There was an impressive interest for PGD among potential users with firsthand
knowledge of the technique. A majority of the members of the Danish
Cystic Fibrosis Association (90%) and people with a risk of having
children with haemophilia (75%) expressed that they wanted PGD to be
introduced in Denmark. Among families with a risk of cystic fibrosis (CF)
about 50% wished to use PGD as a first choice if it was possible, but only
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