Post by futurist on Oct 3, 2018 22:00:30 GMT
Once artificial wombs are successfully developed and commercialized, what effect do you think that this will have on the abortion debate?
I would presume that if a fetal transplant into an artificial womb is no more dangerous and no more invasive for the pregnant woman than an abortion is, then this would give some additional strength to the pro-life movement in the U.S. and in various other countries, but there are still going to be a lot of questions raised. For instance:
1. Who is going to pay for the transfer of this fetus to an artificial womb? Also, who is going to pay for the subsequent upkeeping of this fetus in the artificial womb as well as after birth if this fetus/baby never gets adopted?
2. Are unplanned parents going to be able to escape child support obligations in this scenario? I mean, women can already do this through safe haven laws, but would this principle still apply if they transfer their fetuses to artificial wombs? Also, what if their male partners want to raise these fetuses? Would these women then be forced to pay child support?
3. Are doctors who are going to create excess embryos through IVF and then destroy these embryos going to be charged with manslaughter? What about the parents of these embryos? What's their punishment going to be for this if they support what these doctors are doing?
4. What is the penalty going to be for women who are going to get illegal abortions instead of transferring their fetuses to artificial wombs? Are they not going to be punished at all (which appears to be the current dominant pro-life thinking, as evidenced by the reaction to Donald Trump's comment--later taken back--about punishing women for having illegal abortions)? Or are pro-lifers going to become more receptive to punishing these women?
Also, what if these abortions take place in a different country where abortion would still be legal?
5. What's going to happen to the embryos which are still frozen by that point in time? Is there going to be a movement to unfreeze these embryos and implant them in artificial wombs so that they can finally be born and enjoy the good life?
Any thoughts on all of this?
I would presume that if a fetal transplant into an artificial womb is no more dangerous and no more invasive for the pregnant woman than an abortion is, then this would give some additional strength to the pro-life movement in the U.S. and in various other countries, but there are still going to be a lot of questions raised. For instance:
1. Who is going to pay for the transfer of this fetus to an artificial womb? Also, who is going to pay for the subsequent upkeeping of this fetus in the artificial womb as well as after birth if this fetus/baby never gets adopted?
2. Are unplanned parents going to be able to escape child support obligations in this scenario? I mean, women can already do this through safe haven laws, but would this principle still apply if they transfer their fetuses to artificial wombs? Also, what if their male partners want to raise these fetuses? Would these women then be forced to pay child support?
3. Are doctors who are going to create excess embryos through IVF and then destroy these embryos going to be charged with manslaughter? What about the parents of these embryos? What's their punishment going to be for this if they support what these doctors are doing?
4. What is the penalty going to be for women who are going to get illegal abortions instead of transferring their fetuses to artificial wombs? Are they not going to be punished at all (which appears to be the current dominant pro-life thinking, as evidenced by the reaction to Donald Trump's comment--later taken back--about punishing women for having illegal abortions)? Or are pro-lifers going to become more receptive to punishing these women?
Also, what if these abortions take place in a different country where abortion would still be legal?
5. What's going to happen to the embryos which are still frozen by that point in time? Is there going to be a movement to unfreeze these embryos and implant them in artificial wombs so that they can finally be born and enjoy the good life?
Any thoughts on all of this?
