With CRISPR-Cas9 technology, the possibility of making prenatal changes to the genetic material of future individuals has become a technical reality. Should such interventions be permitted in liberal democracies? And how should such debates be conducted in ideologically pluralistic societies? Proponents of so-called ‘liberal eugenics’, drawing on John Rawls’s political liberalism, argue in favour of the permissibility of pre-natal genetic interventions.
In her book *Germline Interventions in the Name of Freedom?* (external link, opens in a new window), Prof. Dr Eva Helene Odzuck critically examines ‘liberal eugenics’ and outlines a complex concept of freedom that spells out the physical and social dimensions of freedom and can inform the public debate on germline interventions.