Human Embryos and Genetic Testing: A Private Policy Model

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Abstract
The practice of medicine, which traditionally falls outside the sphere of substantive governmental control, poses challenges to political scientists who perceive the need for oversight regarding problematic new technologies. The challenge is even greater when the technologies involve reproduction, in which constitutional liberties are at stake. This article suggests a private policy model for overseeing one problematic emerging reproductive technology—the diagnosis of chromosomal and genetic disorders in human embryos. It bids political scientists to examine and recommend creative private sector policies appropriate to biomedicine. Rules developed in the private sector, if regarded as obligatory by clinicians, offer a theoretically interesting bridge between voluntary ethical principles and mandatory public sector rules.