Unique benefits of ectogenesis outweigh potential harms

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 719-722
Author(s):  
Evie Kendal
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Prospective Parents

This article will consider some of the ethical issues concerning ectogenesis technology, including possible misuse, social harms and safety risks. The article discusses three common objections to ectogenesis, namely that artificial gestation transgresses nature, risks promoting cloning and genetic engineering of offspring, and would lead to the commodification of children. Counterbalancing these concerns are an appeal to women's rights, reproductive autonomy, and the rights of the infertile to access appropriate assisted reproductive technologies. The article concludes that the unique benefits of promoting the development of ectogenesis technology to prospective parents and children, outweigh any potential harms.

The epigenetic effects of assisted reproductive technologies: ethical considerations

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-C. Roy ◽  
C. Dupras ◽  
V. Ravitsky
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Children Health ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Ethical Tension ◽  
Prospective Parents

The use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has increased significantly, allowing many coping with infertility to conceive. However, an emerging body of evidence suggests that ART could carry epigenetic risks for those conceived through the use of these technologies. In accordance with the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis, ART could increase the risk of developing late-onset diseases through epigenetic mechanisms, as superovulation, fertilization methods and embryo culture could impair the embryo’s epigenetic reprogramming. Such epigenetic risks raise ethical issues for all stakeholders: prospective parents and children, health professionals and society. This paper focuses on ethical issues raised by the consideration of these risks when using ART. We apply two key ethical principles of North American bioethics (respect for autonomy and non-maleficence) and suggest that an ethical tension may emerge from conflicting duties to promote the reproductive autonomy of prospective parents on one hand, and to minimize risks to prospective children on the other. We argue that this tension is inherent to the entire enterprise of ART and thus cannot be addressed by individual clinicians in individual cases. We also consider the implications of the ‘non-identity problem’ in this context. We call for additional research that would allow a more robust evidence base for policy. We also call upon professional societies to provide clinicians with guidelines and educational resources to facilitate the communication of epigenetic risks associated with ART to patients, taking into consideration the challenges of communicating risk information whose validity is still uncertain.

From Women’s Rights to Religious Freedom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Kranson
Keyword(s):  
Women's Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Reproductive Rights ◽  
Religious Right ◽  
The Political ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Legal Abortion ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Reproductive Autonomy

This essay traces the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism’s engagement in the issue of reproductive rights during the 1970s and early 1980s. Members of the Women’s League first championed legal abortion in 1970, defending their position through expressly feminist arguments supporting women’s reproductive autonomy. While they never backed down from their endorsement of legal abortion, the political shifts of the late 1970s and early 1980s compelled them to develop a new language through which to discuss the issue. Reframing access to abortion as a matter of religious freedom offered Women’s League members a way to articulate their support for the procedure without publicly endorsing the principle of women’s reproductive autonomy, an idea that had become increasingly controversial over the course of the 1970s. As much of the American public began to view a particularly right-wing, Christian opposition to abortion as a universal religious principle, the leaders of the Women’s League struggled to show that their backing of legal abortion did not conflict with their religious commitments. Framing access to abortion as a religious right enabled them to present their stance on abortion as a component of their spiritual worldview rather than as a capitulation to secular, feminist ideals.

scholarly journals Transitioning from Infertility-Based (ART 1.0) to Elective (ART 2.0) Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the DOHaD Hypothesis: Do We Need to Change Consenting?

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (03/04) ◽  
pp. 204-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Adeleye ◽  
Paolo Rinaudo
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Glucose Intolerance ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Infertile Patients ◽  
Art Techniques

AbstractThe use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) has increased significantly in recent years. While this is partially due to improved access for infertile patients, another contribution to the growth of ART utilization is represented by individuals without infertility, who electively chose to freeze their gametes and embryos for future use, before ever attempting conception spontaneously. Overall, the safety of ART for parents and children is well described and the risks are modest. However, while long-term health consequences for offspring as postulated by the Developmental Origin of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis are unknown, numerous animal studies suggest a predisposition for chronic diseases like hypertension and glucose intolerance. In this article, we argue that a key difference exists between infertile patients, who need to use ART as the only means to achieve pregnancy, and (likely) fertile patients who elect to use ART techniques as a family planning option. We believe that these two sets of patients are different and their risks–benefit ratios are different. We propose that while all patients should be aware of the risks, patients planning to utilize ART techniques without a diagnosis of infertility should be encouraged to think critically about the additional risks, particularly the “potential” long-term risks that may be imposed from these elective procedures.

scholarly journals “Man Cannot Exist Alone”: The Challenge of Health Care to Honor the Role of Women in Society

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-330
Author(s):  
Jonathan Scrafford
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Natural Family Planning ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Women's Role ◽  
Over Time

Women’s roles in society are changing. While most of those changes recognize and enhance the contributions of feminine ingenuity to human development, some threaten to isolate women physically, socially, and emotionally. Developments in reproductive health care, and the writings of Pope Saint John Paul II, offer lenses by which to evaluate the shifting landscape of women’s role in society. On the one hand, practices such as contraception, abortion, surrogacy, and assisted reproductive technologies over time will weaken the physical, social, and emotional bonds that procreation has held between man and woman, parents and children, and families and society. On the other hand, the expansion of different modes of natural family planning and pregnancy support centers offers to preserve those bonds. Summary: Women’s role in families, and therefore society, is invaluable. Several approaches to reproductive health offered by medicine may isolate women over time, and some evidences suggest we are already seeing that effect. Other approaches to women’s health may be able to preserve the physical, emotional, and social bonds that integrate women to the family, and therefore society.

scholarly journals Psychotherapy of a Relationship Break-Up in the Context of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-148
Author(s):  
I.I. Znamenskaya ◽  
M.R. Travkova ◽  
K.R. Arutyunova
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Assisted Reproductive Technologies ◽  
Reproductive Technologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Fertility Treatment ◽  
Break Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Cryopreserved Embryos

The paper is focused on ethical issues of making decisions about cryopreserved embryos in the context of relationship break-up in the framework of the embryo’s legal status and the church’s stand on the matter. All these issues can be viewed as part of a broader problem of intuitive and rational foundations for decision-making when facing difficult situations in life. On the one hand, the stressful context of the situation implies intuitive-driven decision-making; on the other hand, assisted reproductive technologies are largely counter-intuitive. We describe the peculiarities of family psychotherapy with mixed-agenda couples going through a divorce who have joint cryopreserved embryos but disagree on what to do with them. We introduce a protocol for psychotherapeutic work in the situation when one partner wishes to continue with the fertility treatment and have a child while the other partner is determined to utilize joint embryos as unwanted biological material. In addition, we discuss emotional and social complications that may arise (guilt, unfaithfulness of one of the partners, other losses, and grieving).

Science fiction authors’ perspectives on human genetic engineering

2021 ◽  
pp. medhum-2020-012041
Author(s):  
Derek So ◽  
Kelsey Crocker ◽  
Robert Sladek ◽  
Yann Joly
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Gene ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Human Genetic Engineering ◽  
Brave New World

Participants in the human gene editing debate often consider examples from science fiction but have rarely engaged directly with the science fiction community as stakeholders. To understand how science fiction authors develop and spread their views on gene editing, we created an online questionnaire that was answered by 78 authors, including 71 who had previously written about genetic engineering. When asked which ethical issues science fiction should explore, respondents most frequently mentioned affordability, new social divisions, consent and unforeseen safety risks. They rarely advocated exploring psychological effects or religious objections. When asked which works of fiction had influenced their perceptions of gene editing, the most frequent responses were the film Gattaca, the Star Trek franchise and the novels The Island of Doctor Moreau and Brave New World. Unlike other stakeholders, they rarely cited Frankenstein as an influence. This article examines several differences between bioethicists, the general public and science fiction authors, and discusses how this community’s involvement might benefit proponents and opponents of gene editing. It also provides an overview of works mentioned by our respondents that might serve as useful references in the debate.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document