ethical dilemma

Something of the ethical quandary arena that has always been an entertaining thought experiment to pose on commoners. The technology in biology and prenatal care is fast moving and it is already often possible to diagnose a variety of genetic disorders as they appear during embryonic development. Suppose that the technology evolves such that it is possible to reverse or remove said disorders through gene therapy. This is hardly a far-fetched idea. At the moment our only option if as humans we wished to maintain a higher quality of gene pool would be to abort such pregnancies (if at the behest of the prospective mother, I'm not a complete monster). But if there were treatments available to cure or at least alleviate such conditions during the crucial developmental stages, why should anyone complain?

In point of fact however, the common man seems to react with abject horror or anger at such a suggestion. "Eugenics or playing god" it is termed. Eugenics is something that in human history has had its practitioners, and to be fair, it does seem rather daft to practice it for whimsical reasons such as gender, attractiveness, etc. But actual medical conditions or disorders that often pose the prospective parents a good deal of undesirable headaches, both emotional and financial, seem perfectly reasonable to move in to remedy. As far as playing god, I often reference activities such as a variety of environmental practices humans undertake with the idea that we are masters of our environment. We often find that we fall flatly and squarely on our faces in such circumstances and it is quite embarrassing to say the least, if we were in fact the gods we thought ourselves to be. Even limiting the debate to the human condition, I can easily demonstrate the behavior of national leaders or generals as the stage name of god with the power they wield and permit to corrupt. Personally, if I want to play god, there are video games for that. I don't see how permitting families to have what can be otherwise 'normal' lives is in anyway related to this God they all so revere.