Regulating Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis

The successful achievement of pregnancies following pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was first reported in April 1990. The technology is often used for patients who are at substantial risk of conceiving a pregnancy affected by a known genetic disorder, however from this technology other more controversial uses have arisen such as HLA typing to save the life of a sibling, gender selection for social reasons, the prevention of late onset diseases, or the prevention of diseases which may be genetically predisposed to developing such as breast cancer. The technology surrounding PGD is constantly developing, giving rise to new and unexpected consequences that create fresh ethical and legal dilemmas. Featuring internationally recognized experts in the field, this book critically explores the regulation of PGD and the broader legal and ethical issues associated with it. It looks at the regulatory situation in a number of jurisdictions including New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, but it also explores a number of themes of wide significance including a historical consideration of PGD and its part in the creation of the "genetic embryo" as a political tool, the over regulation of PGD and the ethical difficulties in handling additional unexpected medical information yielded by new technologies. This book will be of particular interest to academics and students of law, medicine and ethics.

Sheila A. McLean is the first holder of the International Bar Association Chair of Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University and is Director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University. She has acted as a consultant to the World Health Organisation and the Council of Europe, and to individual States. Sarah Elliston is Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, UK. In addition to her work at the university, she has contributed to the work of a number of public and professional organisations. She is the Scottish Case Editor for the Butterworths Medico Legal Reports and writes the medical law section for the Butterworths Scottish Older Client Law Service.

Introduction, Sheila A.M. McLean 1. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: Safely born but not designed, Peter Braude 2. The Weak Moral Basis for Restrictive Regulation of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, Tom Campbell and Laura Cabrera 3. PGD and the making of the 'genetic embryo' as a political tool, Martin H Johnson and Anastasia A Theodosiou 4. Statutory regulation of PGD in the UK: unintended consequences and future challenges, Emily Jackson 5. The Welfare of the Child Principle and the Use of PGD: Selecting for Disability, Sarah Elliston 6. Regulating Abortion and Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis in the Australian States of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia: Comparing and Contrasting Regulative Approaches, Kerry Petersen 7. Regulatory legitimacy: The case for controlling and restricting access toPreimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) for sex selection purposes, Don Chalmers 8. Cartwright Calamities, Frankenstein Monsters and The Regulation of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis in New Zealand, Jeanne Snelling 9. The State in Action - An Insider's View of How the State Regulates the Use of PGD with HLA Tissue-Typing in New Zealand, Mark Henaghan and Thomas Cleary Conclusion, Sheila A.M. McLean and Sarah Elliston