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Abortion and the Ethics of Genetic Sexual Orientation Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Timothy F. Murphy
Timothy F. Murphy
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Biomedical Sciences, Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago.
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Extract

Reports about possible genetic bases of homoerotic sexual orientation in adults have received a kind of schizophrenic social reception. On the one hand, these reports have been welcomed by some gay men and lesbians as biological confirmation of the commonly held view that sexual orientation is an involuntary trait, that sexual orientation is not in any meaningful sense chosen. Simon LeVay has received mail from thankful correspondents who welcomed his 1991 report about the possible neuroanatomical basis for male homoerotic sexual orientation, and some legal analysts see important implications of biological studies for the ways in which civil rights are recognized, especially those that depend on an immutable characteristic like race or gender.

Type
Special Section: Designs on Life: Choice, Control, and Responsibility in Genetic Manipulation
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , Summer 1995 , pp. 340 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

Notes

1. LeVay, S. A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men. Science 1991;253:1034–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

2. Nimmons, D. Sex and the brain. Discover 1993;68:64–71.Google Scholar

3. Quoted in Stein, E. The relevance of scientific research about sexual orientation to lesbian and gay rights. In: TF, Murphy, Ed. Gay Ethics: Controversies in Outing, Civil Rights, and Sexual Science. New York: Haworth Press, 1994:269–308.Google Scholar

4. See Bailey, JM, Pillard, RC. A genetic study of male sexual orientation. Archives of General Psychiatry 1991;48:1089–96,CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed and Bailey, JM, Neale, MC, Agyei, Y. Heritable factors influence sexual orientation in women. Archives of General Psychiatry 1993;50:217–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMedHamer, DH, Hu, S, Magnuson, V, Hu, N, Pattatucci, AML. A linkage between DNA markers on the X chromosome and male sexual orientation. Science 1993;261:321–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed See also Pool, R. Evidence for homosexuality gene. Science 1993;261:291–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

5. See note 3. Stein, . 1994:295.Google Scholar

6. Schüklenk, U. Editorial. Bioethics News 1993;12:1–5Google Scholar. Of course, some straight taxpayers might want such research funded if they thought it offered a pathway to a society without homosexuality. This piece was also reprinted as Is research into the cause (s) of homosexuality bad for gay people? Christopher Street 1993;208:13–5.Google Scholar

7. I should also note, however, that a number of worries about the use of genetic markers have been raised relevant to the employment, insurability, and social and legal standing of adult gay men and lesbians as well. See Murphy, TF. Gay science: genetic science and the future [unpublished manuscript]. For examples of the matter of abortion being raised as relevant to the ethics of sexual orientation researchGoogle Scholar, see Henry, WA III. Born gay? Time, 1993;07 26:36–9;Google Scholar and Bishop, J. Research points toward a 'Gay' Gene. Wall Street Journal 1993;07 16:B1.Google Scholar

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9. On the supposition that sexual orientation is localized in statistical correlation to a specific chromosomal region, Hamer may be mistaken in thinking that refusal to license his patent to others would prevent access to this information. Other techniques might provide access to the same information in different, unpatented ways.

10. For a discussion of efforts in sexual-orientation research to effect heterosexuality in persons primarily homoerotically inclined, see Murphy, TF. Redirecting sexual orientation: techniques and justifications. Journal of Sex Research 1992;29:501–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11. I am also assuming here that adults bifurcate neatly either homoerotic or heteroerotic lives. There are, I think, good reasons for rejecting this assumption. I will nevertheless accept the assumption for the sake of the argument given that it seems consonant with the assumptions of many discussions about the meaning of genetic prenatal tests for sexual orientation.

12. Murphy, TF. Reproductive controls and sexual destiny. Bioethics 1990;4:121–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

13. This does not necessarily follow, of course; it depends on the nature of religious views involved. It is imaginable that a certain religious view could condone abortion while continuing to condemn homoeroticism in strong terms.

14. See note 10. Murphy, . 1990;4:134–5. Of course, prenatal interference might well be permitted if religious views conceptualize homoeroticism as the consequence of disease. If that were the case, then intervention would be merely serving therapeutic interest. Some religious views, however, have not insisted on defining homoeroticism as a disease, this in order to maintain a moral basis for its condemnation. To the extent homoeroticism is not a disorder or disease properly speaking, interference in embryonic or fetal development might properly be understood by some religions as objectionable assaults on the dignity and integrity of the embryo or fetus.Google Scholar

15. Bell, AP, Weinberg, MS. Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity Among Men and Women. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978:339, table 12. 76% of 570 white homosexual males (WHMs), 73% of 111 black homosexual males (BHMs), 69% of white homosexual females (WHFs), and 77% of 64 black homosexual females (BHFs) said they would not at all be upset or would be upset very little.Google Scholar

16. See note 15. Bell, , Weinberg, . 1978:339, table 12. 25% of 570 WHMs, 26% of 111 BHMs, 33% of 226 WHFs, and 27% of 64 BHFs.Google Scholar

17. See note 15. Bell, , Weinberg, . 1978:339, table 12. Saying yes to the question of “Want magic pill at birth?” were: 28% of 569 WHMs, 23% of 109 BHMs, 16% of 228 WHFs, and 11% of 63 BHFs. Saying yes to the question “Want magic pill today?” were: 14% of 574 WHMs, 13% of 109 BHMs, 5% of 229 WHFs, and 6% of 64 BHFs.Google Scholar

18. See note 15. Bell, , Weinberg, . 1978:339, table 12. 27% of 573 WHMs, 27% of 111 BHMs, 23% of 225 WHFs, and 21% of 64 BHFs agreed or strongly agreed that homosexuality is an emotional disorder.Google Scholar

19. See for example, Nicolosi, J. The Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality. New York: Aronson, J., 1991.Google Scholar

20. The case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, was reported in Greenhouse, L. High court, 5–4, affirms right but allows most of Pennsylvania's limits. New York Times, 1992;06 30:A1, A7.Google Scholar

21. It should be observed that it does not follow that fewer gay men and lesbians in the future means that they will necessarily be less politically able and increasingly victimized because the absolute size of a group does not predict its relative social fortunes.

22. D'Emilio, J. Capitalism and gay identity. In: Making Trouble. New York: Routledge, 1992:3–16.Google Scholar

23. Money, J. Gay, Straight, and In-Between. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988:73–4, 124, 131, 134, 171, 176–7. These claims are hard to evaluate. I note them here not to judge their conceptual or evidential adequacy but merely as a reminder that biological accounts are not the only accounts of homoeroticism, and that a biological focus may in fact obscure the other factors that determine the overall incidence and prevalence of homoeroticism.Google Scholar

24. See note 22. D'Emilio, . 1992:13–6.Google Scholar

25. On which topic, see Card, C. Lesbianism and choice. Journal of Homosexuality 1992;23:39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26. Views that discovery of a genetic basis of sexual orientation would entirely free gay men and lesbians from invidious discrimination are, of course, simplistically wrong. See Alper, JS, Natowicz, MR. The allure of genetic explanations. British Medical Journal 1992;305:666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

27. To make this point is to say nothing, however, about the relative merit of such inquiry compared to other inquiries competing for both researcher interest and financial sponsorship.

28. Hooker, E. The adjustment of the male overt homosexual. 1957;21:18–31;Google ScholarPubMedMale homosexuality in the Rorschach. 1958;22:33–54;Google ScholarWhat is a criterion? 1959;23:278–81, all in Journal of Projective Techniques.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

29. See note 3. Stein, . 1994. While I am sympathetic in large measure to the thesis that civil rights for gay men and lesbians are independent of particular theories of biological causation, I do not accept all of Stein's particular arguments on behalf of this thesis.Google Scholar

30. See note 23. Money, . 1988:153.Google Scholar

31. Ramsey, P. Fabricated Man. New Haven: Yale, 1970:25.Google Scholar