There are many sides arguing who should have the rights to access genetic data. Arguments are very common among insurance industries and hospitals. Although the answer may seem simple, it is in fact far from such word. Much of the points brought up always end up in the grey area, where an exact answer is undecidable.
If we ask, should the person him/herself have access to his/her own genetic data? My answer without a doubt would be 'absolutely'. The first reason is basically 'why not?', a person should have full rights to know about their personal potential risks of diseases so they will be able to plan out their life, how to take care of themselves to lower the risk and so on.
On the other hand, insurance professionals want to have access to genetic information of their clients so they can decide whether or not to offer their insurance. Now, what do you think? Obviously, that wouldn't be so nice for the person who may potentially develop diseases just because their genes carry that weakness. But, looking at this situation through an insurance professionals' scope you'd realise: your company would probably lose a lot of money if your client develop a disease, say Huntington's, where there's not only no cure, but slow continuous brain degradation.
How about prenatal genetic testing before giving birth? It allows doctors to detect mutation in the embryo or fetus and conditions that may lead to birth defects in the child. Once again, personally I think, why not? It's entirely the parents' choice whether or not they want to know about conditions or diseases their child or children may have. But consider this: parents are given genetic counselling about this procedure, in some cases findings lead to the abortion of the baby. That makes it a little harder doesn't it? BUT, the topic of abortion is another whole discussion.
This argument is especially interesting since it's something that I've never really considered before, I thought the answer would've been straightforward and exact but when I got to expand my point of views I came to realise that it's not that simple. I really do wonder if there will ever be written 'rules' to the accessibility of genetic data that will satisfy everyone. Will these problems ever be justified?
