'Reproductive ethics' Category
Womb for Rent - The Ethics of Surrogate Motherhood (15)
Our podcast for November is a discussion of the complex issue of surrogate motherhood. In many parts of the world it is legal, but is it ethical? We present case study of a British couple that went to India to obtain a baby with the help of a surrogate. Our analysis will look at the [...]
Who Am I?
In our ongoing academic debates over reproductive technologies, it is perhaps all too easy to forget the real issue: we are talking about how we treat human persons, created in God’s image, who have incalculable worth. Sometimes it is good to step back and put a face on the special children whose lives are in [...]
Bargain Abortions are a Threat to Women
If abortion can be done earlier, it can be done with fewer complications for women. So goes the familiar rationale for Mifeprex (mifepristone), the so-called abortion pill, developed in France by the designation ‘RU-486.’ Yet such early medical abortions are not easy. The pill must be followed up by a prostaglandin (misoprostol) which causes the [...]
Only One Child May Live
Steven Mosher paints a horrifying picture of the grim reality of the “One Child” policy in China. As a U.S. State Department representative in Guangdong Province in 1980, Mosher witnessed first-hand the forced abortions of women who committed the “crime” of becoming pregnant for the second time.
Since then, Mosher has become president of the [...]Down Syndrome Babies: An Endangered Species?
Recent developments in genetic testing are revolutionizing the ability to test for a variety of genetic disorders in unborn babies. Before now, this required a difficult, painful, and potentially hazardous procedure called amniocentesis, ususally reserved for expectant mothers over the age of 35. Amniocentesis itself carries a 0.5% miscarriage rate, but it has been used [...]
More on the Supreme Court’s Ruling
On April 19th, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a landmark decision. In a 5-4 decision, the Court upheld the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act as constitutional. There is much to rejoice about, yet much remains to be done.
The Court has struck a balance between a woman’s right to choose to terminate her pregnancy and [...]Centering on Bioethics (5)
Our February Podcast features an excerpt from a radio interview about the new Center for Bioethics at Cedarville University. We also examine three news stories with bioethical implications: a new, ethically neutral source for ‘embryonic’ stem cells, a controversial medical treatment for a handicapped child, and a happy ending for a Katrina baby that was [...]
A Black Market for Stem Cells? (2)
Our short interim podcast for mid-December, where we analyze two items from the news. The first is a disturbing report from the Ukraine, where it appears that live babies may have been murdered to obtain bone marrow stem cells. The second is a discussion of bioethicist Arthur Caplan, and his endorsement of the “morning-after” pill, [...]
Brave New Fathers
As a follow-up to Aaron’s blog last week about reproductive tech, I came across an article in the LA Times. The story raises profoundly disturbing questions about how society views reproduction and having babies, and crosses the line into the chilling realm of eugenics.
The news article starts out with Chad and David, a gay couple [...]Reproduction and Our Modern Attitude
Our guest blogger is Aaron Costerisan, this year’s Center for Bioethics Fellow:
In an article entitled ‘Reproduction Revolution: Sex for Fun, IVF for Children,’ Jo Whelan marvels at our change in attitude toward reproduction since Louise Brown became the first “test-tube” baby in 1978: “Who would have predicted how common IVF would become back in 1977, [...]
