Speech outline.

Communication 103

Persuasive Outline, Stock Issues

April 8, 2015

General Purpose: To persuade

Specific Purpose:

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Imagine a world where you get to choose the type of child that you bring into it. You could pick their hair color, height, personality, intelligence, and many other aspects. You would get to design your baby. Would this be good or bad?

B. If you have an opinion on this , then you will be interested in the concept of designer babies.

C. I have read over ten articles on this topic and am well informed.

D. I am here to convince you that the creation of designer babies will be negative to our society.

E. If designer babies become a reality, they will affect everyone. While there can be some positives to certain aspects of this technology, they do no outweigh the negatives. The idea of perfection is a major barrier that our society needs to overcome in order to get past the want to genetically design children.

II. BODY

A. In the near future we may have the genetic technology needed in order to change an embryo and choose desirable characteristics for it. If this becomes a reality, it will affect everyone.

1. The concept of creating a child with specific traits is not far-fetched. A procedure already being widely used is called IVF, which helps couples that have infertility problems have children by pre-selecting embryos before implantation. Another procedure called PGD screens embryos for different genetic traits before they are implanted and physicians can choose ones that are not predisposed to certain genetic conditions, like serious diseases such as cystic fibrosis (Ly, 2010).

2. A major issue with the concept of designer babies is the fact that it would be a very expensive process. This technology would only be available to wealthy “affluent couples and would be used in ways that could increase inequality. The last thing we need now is a genetic elite” (Steere, 2008, para. 8).

3. In addition, there are many ethical and moral issues that go along with all this. When doctors helped infertile women have children or when they determined if a child would have certain diseases, they were praised. However, when they started helping paying people to change the sex of their child, many began to question this. Choosing the sex of a child, especially in some countries, could lead to even more sex discrimination (Sandel, 2004).

TRANSITION: The beginnings of creating a designer baby are already in place today.

B. Some of the reasons that we are getting closer and closer to a complete designer baby is because there can be some positives. However, all of these positives have two sides, one where they are ethically or morally okay, and one where they are not.

1. There is the concept of a savior child. This child could be considered the beginning of designer babies. The parents in this situation usually have another child who is very sick and needs a donor of some sort. Therefore they create a child that will be the correct match for them. While this may sound wonderful for some because they are saving a child’s life, they could also be ruining this savior child’s life in the process. The creation of these children is just the beginning, who knows how far we could take it. (Wilkinson, 2003).

2. Another positive some people may see is found within the disabilities community. For example, a couple with deafness could choose the have a child that is also deaf so that they could be a part of their cultural community. Even if it is not seen as a disability to the parents, it is not ethical for someone to bring in an innocent child into this world with such characteristics just because they want to (Savulescu, 2002).

3. A huge problem in our society is the belief that everyone should look and act a certain way. “7 in 10 girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way including their looks, performance in school and relationships” (Shapiro, 2009, para. 6). It is a huge barrier that needs to be overcome in order to realize that there is no need to genetically design a baby. No one needs to be perfect, and the fact that everyone is so unique is what helps make our world so wonderful. (Darnovsky, 2001)

TRANSITION : In order to help solve this problem, people need to help make a change.

C. If we do not stop this downward spiral towards designer babies, it will most likely lead to much discrimination in all aspects of life.

1. The fact that our society places so much importance on looks and perfection is one of the main reasons parents are interested in creating a designer child. Being perfect, or our idea of perfect, will not make anyone happy. In order to change this belief, we all need to stop judging others based on looks or their ability to play sports or get amazing grades (Brown, 2013).

2. Not everyone can or should be good at everything. Being different is not a bad thing. We all need to start accepting everyone for the way that they are, and if we do this, there will be no need for designer babies. This issue of perfection in our society is a whole problem of itself, and it is a big reason why people would support designer babies.

3. To more directly help prevent the creation of designer babies simply google designer baby petitions and many websites will come up where you can sign a petition and voice your opinion.

III. CONCLUSION

A. I have tried to convince you that creating designer babies will not be a positive.

B. Designer babies have many negative aspects and they will affect everyone in one way or another. People need to overcome this idea of perfection and accept others for their differences so that we do not end up a society where everyone is the same.

C. Next time you’re judging someone for being different or not skinny enough or not pretty enough, think of a world where everyone is the same. Think of what it would be like if everyone were smart and athletic. I do not know about everyone else, but that is not a world I would like to live in.

References

Brown, B. (2013). Want to be happy? stop trying to be perfect. CNN. Retrieved from

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/11/01/give.up.perfection/

Darnovsky, M. (2001). The case against designer babies. Center for Genetics and Society.

Retrieved from http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=3540

Ly, S. (2010). Ethics of designer babies. The Embryo Project. Retrieved from

http://embryo.asu.edu/pages/ethics-designer-babies

Sandel, M. (2004, April). The case against perfection. The Atlantic Online. Retrieved from http://jrichardstevens.com/articles/sandel-genetics.pdf

Savulescu, J. (2002, October 5). Deaf lesbians, “designer disability,” and the future of medicine.

PMC. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1124279/

Shapiro, H. (2009). Girl’s self esteem. In Examiner. Retrieved from

esteem-for-back-to-school" http://www.examiner.com/article/dove-s-campaign-for-real-beauty-boosts-girls-self

esteem-for-back-to-school

Steere, M. (2008, October 30). Designer babies: Creating the perfect child. CNN. Retrieved from

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/30/designer.babies/

Wilkinson, S. (2003, July 30). Should selecting saviour siblings be banned? Journal of Medical

Ethics. Retrieved from http://jme.bmj.com/content/30/6/533.short

�What if we did not have an opinion?

�Preview main points: Briefly preview the problem, causes/barriers, and solution

�This is not a clear transition statement. Transition statement needs to tell us that you are going to talk about the next main point.

�This is a positive side and you are refuting it. But this is not following the format. You can rephrase to make this a cause/barrier.

�This is a positive side and you are refuting it. But this is not following the format. You can rephrase to make this a cause/barrier.

�Again, this is a bit unclear transition. You could say “Now that I discuss the problem, and causes and barriers in regard with designer babies, I am going to suggest a solution.” Or something along those lines.

�In the first two sub-points, you discussed how trying to be perfect leads to the creation of designer babies, and thus we should stop thinking in that way. In the action step, you proposed signing the petition, and it is good, but it seems somewhat abrupt.

�Again, you need to review your main points (problem, causes/barriers, and solution that you proposed briefly.)

�contraction