You are , in effect doing the same thing , but there ' s a difference when the control is given to the parent . The woman , Carrie Buck , in Buck V Priddy , even though she was deemed cognitively sound , still wound up being sterilized because her mother was deemed feebleminded and there was minimal evidence that her infant child was as well . It ' s like the difference between an abortion and ripping a baby out . Same effect but completely different ethics . Also , just because you have a defective gene , does not mean you will end up passing it on to your child . If it does get passed on , it may or may not be expressed depending on the other parent ' s gene contribution . True enough , the gene does not go away and new offspring may become genecarriers , but are we to rid carriers of the right to give birth ? ?