Ectogenesis: Artificial Womb Technology and the Future of Human Reproduction (Value Inquiry Book Series 184)

225 Pages·2006·1.04 MB·English

by  Scott Gelfand

ECTOGENESIS
Artificial Womb Technology and the Future
of Human Reproduction
VIBS
Volume 184
Robert Ginsberg
Founding Editor
Peter A. Redpath
Executive Editor
Associate Editors
G. John M. Abbarno Matti Häyry
Mary-Rose Barral Steven V. Hicks
Gerhold K. Becker Richard T. Hull
Raymond Angelo Belliotti Mark Letteri
Kenneth A. Bryson Vincent L. Luizzi
C. Stephen Byrum Adrianne McEvoy
Harvey Cormier Alan Milchman
Robert A. Delfino Alan Rosenberg
Rem B. Edwards Arleen L. F. Salles
Andrew Fitz-Gibbon John R. Shook
Francesc Forn i Argimon Eddy Souffrant
William Gay Tuija Takala
Dane R. Gordon Anne Waters
J. Everet Green John R. Welch
Heta Aleksandra Gylling Thomas Woods
a volume in
Values in Bioethics
ViB
Matti Häyry, Tuija Takala, Editor
ECTOGENESIS
Artificial Womb Technology and the Future
of Human Reproduction
Edited by
Scott Gelfand and John R. Shook
Amsterdam - New York, NY 2006
Cover Design: Studio Pollmann
The paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “ISO
9706:1994, Information and documentation - Paper for documents -
Requirements for permanence”.
ISBN-10: 90-420-2081-4
ISBN-13: 978-90-420-2081-8
©Editions Rodopi B.V., Amsterdam - New York, NY 2006
Printed in the Netherlands
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword by Richard T. Hull xi
ONE Introduction by Scott Gelfand 1

TWO Ectogenesis
PETER SINGER AND DEANE WELLS 9
1. The Case for Ectogenesis 11
2. Objections to Ectogenesis 16
3. Discussion 18
THREE Is Pregnancy Necessary: Feminist Concerns about Ectogenesis
JULIEN S. MURPHY 27
1. Ectogenetic Research 29
2. Ectogenesis: Who Wants It? 30
FOUR Women, Ectogenesis, and Ethical Theory
LESLIE CANNOLD 47
1. The Reality of Ectogenesis 48
2. “Severance” and “Right to Life” Abortion Theory 48
3. Methodology 49
4. Women’s Response to Ectogenesis 50
5. The Need and Responsibility for Change 56
FIVE Out of Body Gestation: In Whose Best Interests?
ROSEMARIE TONG 59
1. The Ectogenesis Debate in the 1920s 60
2. The Ectogenesis Debate in the 1970s and 1980s 63
3. The Ectogenesis Debate Today 67
SIX What’s so Good about Natural Motherhood? (In Praise of
Unnatural Gestation)
GREGORY PENCE 77
1. Introduction 77
2. The Emotional Symbolism of the Artificial Womb 78
3. A Brief History of Assisted Reproduction 79
4. The Artificial Womb and the Best Interests of the Child 81
5. The Artificial Womb and the Best Interests of the Mother 82
6. Bonding 84
7. Research with Extracorporeal Gestation 85
vi CONTENTS
8. Social Justice and the Artificial Womb 87
9. Predictable Alarmist Critiques 87
SEVEN Ectogenesis and the Ethics of Care
SCOTT GELFAND 89
1. Introduction 89
2. The Ethics of Care 89
3. Agent-Based Virtue Ethics and the Morality of Caring 90
4. Hypothetical-Agent-Based Virtue Ethics 94
5. Hypothetical-Agent-Based Virtue Ethics and
Ectogenesis 96
6. Abortion and Ectogenesis 103
7. Conclusion 106
EIGHT Of Machine Born? A Feminist Assessment of Ectogenesis
and Artificial Wombs
MAUREEN SANDER-STAUDT 109
1. Ectogenesis is a Gender Issue 109
2. Liberal Feminism and the Ethics of Artificial Wombs 111
3. Radical Feminism, Cultural Feminism, and the
Ethics of Artificial Wombs 115
4. Conclusion 126
NINE Ectogenesis: Liberation, Technological Tyranny, or Just
More of the Same?
JOAN WOOLFREY 129
1. Ectogenesis and Women’s Value 130
2. Ethical Issues Specific to Ectogenesis 133
3. Ectogenesis as Medical Necessity 134
4. Ectogenesis as Pregnancy Option 134
5. The Matter of Control 136
TEN Leaving People Alone: Liberalism, Ectogenesis, and the
Limits of Medicine
DIEN HO 139
1. Introduction 139
2. Value Arguments against Ectogenesis: The Elephant
in the Room 140
3. Ectogenesis as a Conflict of Values 142
4. An Appeal to Liberalism 143
5. Some Qualifications 145
6. Lost in Space or the Best of All Possible Worlds? 146
7. Conclusion 146
CONTENTS vii
ELEVEN Immaculate Gestation? How Will Ectogenesis Change
Current Paradigms of Social Relationships and Values?
JENNIFER BARD 149
1. Introduction 149
2. Factual Background 150
3. Analysis 150
4. Conclusion: What Will the Future Bring? 155
TWELVE The Artificial Womb and Human Subject Research
JOYCE M. RASKIN and NADAV MAZOR 159
1. Current Biomedical Standards for Human Subject
Research 164
2. Human Subject Research and In Vitro Fetuses 168
3. Is the AW an Acceptable Medical Procedure? 172
4. Is the Use of the Artificial Womb for Research
Ethically Permissible? 176
5. Conclusions 181
THIRTEEN Bibliography on Ectogenesis
JOHN R. SHOOK 183
About the Editors and Contributors 191
Index 193
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The editors are grateful to Charles Scribner’s Sons, Indiana University Press,
and Blackwell Publishing for permission to reprint these chapters.
“Ectogenesis” by Peter Singer and Deane Wells. Chap. 5 of Making Babies:
The New Science and Ethics of Conception (New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1985), pp. 116–134.
“Is Pregnancy Necessary: Feminist Concerns About Ectogenesis” by Julien S.
Murphy. Hypatia 4 (1989): 66–84.
“Women, Ectogenesis, and Ethical Theory” by Leslie Cannold. Journal of
Applied Philosophy 12 (1995): 55–64.