Position Paper I
Female or Male . . . You Decide?
The Ethical Implications of Selecting the Sex of One's Child

Rationale for Assignment :

Your first essay topic attempts to combine issues that we will discuss in our first two course units, including decision making from ethical perspectives and the influence of new technologies on society. A recent Newsweek article (provided in the Background Material section of this assignment) notes, “The brave new world is definitely here. After 25 years of staggering advances in reproductive medicine—first test-tube babies, then donor eggs and surrogate mothers—technology is changing baby-making in a whole new way. No longer can science simply help couples have babies, it can help them have the kind of babies they want.” This article goes on to point out that “the ability to create baby Jack or baby Jill opens a high-tech can of worms. While the advances have received kudos from grateful families, they also raise loaded ethical questions about whether science is finally crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. Even fertility specialists are divided over whether choosing a male or female embryo is acceptable.”

The Assignment :

Your five-page essay should develop a specific thesis related to the issue of sex selection in which you argue ONE of the following general positions:

Sex selection is an ethical (or acceptable) practice and should be allowed in our society because . . .

Sex selection is an unethical (or unacceptable) practice and should not be allowed in our society because . . .

As you develop your essay, first familiarize yourself with this issue. What are the arguments being advanced by those who are in favor of sex selection? Similarly, what are the arguments made by those against this procedure? After carefully considering all sides, make your own decision as to whether or not YOU think sex selection is an acceptable or unacceptable practice. Your position (and fully developed claim) should be supported by specific reasons that will allow you to develop a well-argued essay. Each of your reasons (or arguments to support your overall thesis) must be supported with clear and convincing evidence in which you explain the logic of your argumentation (i.e. your warrant). At some point in your essay, discuss the specific ethical perspective from which your views stem.

In writing your essay, assume your audience to be the general public who is reasonably educated but not fully informed about this topic. A practical approach might be to think you are writing a guest editorial that could be printed in the local newspaper.

A minimum of three sources must be cited in the paper. At least two of your references must be sources that were published in print form, including newspaper, magazine article, published report, book source, etc. We realize that you might obtain your print / published sources electronically. Your remaining required third source can be obtained from the Web (in other words, this source can be one that has been published ONLY on the Internet). Of your three required sources, you can use only one source that is provided as background information as part of this assignment. Of course, your essay can incorporate more than the three required sources.

This paper is worth 200 points (80 points for the first draft, 100 points for the final draft, and 20 points for a peer review that you will write of another student's essay). For more specific guidelines in preparing your essay see the Writing section of the course web page.

You must turn in your graded first draft with your final draft and always be sure to keep a copy of your paper for your files.

Background Material :

Click here for the January 26, 2004 Newsweek article on this topic

Click here for a recent newspaper article on this topic

Click here for a short article on this topic appearing in Women's Health Weekly