David Wasserman

Noninvasive, prenatal whole genome sequencing may be a technological reality in the near future, making available a vast array of genetic information early in pregnancy at no risk to the fetus or mother. Many worry that the timing, safety, and ease of the test will lead to informational overload and reproductive consumerism. The prevailing response among commentators has been to restrict conditions eligible for testing based on medical severity, which imposes disputed value judgments and devalues those living with eligible conditions. To avoid these difficulties, we propose an unrestricted testing policy, under which prospective parents could obtain information on any variant of known significance after a careful informed consent process that uses an interactive decision aid to deliver a mandatory presentation on the purposes, techniques, and limitations of genomic testing, as well as optional resources for reflection and consultation. This process would encourage thoughtful, informed deliberation...

Adrienne Asch inspired, challenged, and provoked a generation of bioethicists and philosophers who were discovering the subject of disability. For Adrienne, disability was a complex phenomenon that raised universal issues of embodiment, justice, well‐being, and identity. She insisted that bioethicists and philosophers who invoked disability in discussions about these issues first learn something about it, for which her own work provided critical insights. She argued eloquently that those who relied on unsupported assumptions about disability, even in the most arcane debates, reinforced harmful stereotypes and impoverished their own thinking. At the same time, she urged that the claims of disability scholars concerning discrimination, fairness, and kindred issues be made with philosophical clarity. She was fearless with the smug and insular in both fields, but generous with those, like me, who were merely naive.