Babies by (Intelligent) Design?

Advances in reproductive technology and genetic interventions raise questions about the possibility of using these procedures to promote the birth of children with socially advantageous conditions. In Babies by Design, Ronald M. Green supports this goal and accuses its opponents of a “status quo bias.” Unfortunately, some of Green’s own arguments also show a status quo bias. Moreover, although he attempts to avoid the thorny issue of the moral status of human embryos, he implicitly takes a stand on it by endorsing prenatal interventions that inevitably entail the creation and loss of some human embryos. This essay identifies these and other flaws in Green’s account.