Globe and Mail - Deselecting our children

(Op-ed by Margaret Somerville, founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill)

"Here’s a recent Danish headline: “…The ethics issues that prenatal screening raises will only increase as the range of tests expands, they’re safer for the woman, cheaper, easier to use and presented as routine medical precautions.

But not all tests have medical goals. The latest – identification of a baby’s gender at seven weeks of pregnancy – raises fears of sex selection, which has resulted in millions of missing girls in India and China. These “deselection” decisions affect society itself. Many young men, for instance, can’t find a wife…"