The Indignity of 'Designer Baby' Culture

By Rod Anderson, CP Cartoonist Saturday, March 26, 2016

What's the difference between a pet Burmese Python and a human baby? Nothing. Or everything. It depends on your worldview.

Americans have a thing for the exotic, no matter how costly it may prove to other people. For instance, the Florida Everglades are home to, among other species, Nile crocodiles, green anacondas, and most famously, tens of thousands of Burmese pythons.

As words like "Nile" and "Burmese" suggest, none of these species are native to Florida or even to this continent. Their presence in the Everglades, and the damage they're causing to that fragile ecosystem is the result of people indulging their desire for exotic pets and then dumping them when they become inconvenient.
As bad as this sort of self-indulgence is when we're talking reptiles, it's infinitely worse when the exotic commodity is people.