A lot of people will be talking about ethics. But I'm thinking more along the lines of economics.
Rich people having expensive gene edited kids. They're stronger, smarter, more driven, and healthier than your kids. They are better looking. They'll be more advanced than kids their age. They'll have all sorts of built in advantages.
The social and economic gap will widen. Opportunities come easier to the people who look great, are crazy smart, and are driven to attain them. So the rich kids become richer and more powerful.
It's one thing to get a head start in life because your parents give you money. It's a much bigger advantage when your parents can also afford to give you built in physical and mental advantages far beyond other people.
Imagine being the kid who realizes he's slower than his classmates because his parents are poor, and that it's too late to ever change that.
I don't see any alternative here. You could theoretically make the gene-editing a standard benefit paid for by the government, but the US at least can't even agree on how to provide basic healthcare, so it's unlikely we would agree on this. You could outlaw gene-editing, but as long as it's medically possible some people will still do it, and at best you get the same result at a slower rate.
You know what's funny? That it already is as you describe - due to environmental reasons. Better food. Better rearing. Better access to developmental aids. And all this without any needless expensive gene editing.
Rich people having expensive gene edited kids. They're stronger, smarter, more driven, and healthier than your kids. They are better looking. They'll be more advanced than kids their age. They'll have all sorts of built in advantages.
The social and economic gap will widen. Opportunities come easier to the people who look great, are crazy smart, and are driven to attain them. So the rich kids become richer and more powerful.
It's one thing to get a head start in life because your parents give you money. It's a much bigger advantage when your parents can also afford to give you built in physical and mental advantages far beyond other people.
Imagine being the kid who realizes he's slower than his classmates because his parents are poor, and that it's too late to ever change that.