New Reproductive Technology

1 NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES Dr. E. T. Acevedo References: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Ethical Practices in Health & disease – Michael A. Monge Bioethics & Moral Decisions - Florentino T. Timbreza INTERVENTION & REFLECTION: Basic Issues in Medical Ethics - Ronald Munson Medical Ethics - Robert M. Veatch ETHICS of Health Care - B.M. Ashley & k.d. O’Rourke

2 BRAVE NEW WORLD Dystopian Novel by Aldous Huxley, 1932

In the future society depicted by Huxley, “pregnancy” is a dirty word, sex is purely recreational, and children are produced according to explicit genetic standards in the artificial wombs of state “hatcheries”. Furthermore, an individual’s genetic environment determines the social position and obligations that he or she has within the society. Of course, everyone is conditioned to believe that the role he finds himself in is the best one to have.

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In significant ways, that future society is now. We have no state hatcheries No artificial uteruses

What do we have now Sperm banks

surrogate mothers

We have it within our powers to remove an ovum from a woman’s body, fertilize it, then return it so that it may develop into a child. By relatively simple surgical procedures, we can end forever the reproductive potentialities of otherwise fertile men or women.

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POTENTIALITY??

BLEAK VISION OF A

MECHANISTIC and DEHUMANIZED FUTURE

Traditional values associated with reproduction and family life, values based on individual autonomy, are replaced by values of a purely social kind. In such a society, it is the good of the society or of the species, not the good of the individuals, that is the touchstone of

NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein The “monster’ that is animated by Dr. Frankenstein stands as a warning and reproach to all who seek to impose their will on the world through the powers of scientific technology.

WARNING: It is both wrong and dangerous to tamper with the natural forces of life. WRONG: - because it disturbs the natural order of things; DANGEROUS: - because it unleashes forces beyond human control. The fundamental ethical question about the new human reproductive technology is whether it ought to be employed at all. Is it simply wrong for us to use our knowledge of human biology to exercise power over the processes of human reproduction?

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ETHICAL THEORIES 1. The Natural Law View: (represented by currently accepted doctrines of the Roman Catholic church) 2. Utilitarian View: 3. Ross’s Ethical theory: 4. Kantian Principles: According to the natural Law all the following three techniques are fundamentally wrong: 1

1. 2. 3.

Artificial Insemination In vitro Fertilization Sterilization

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1. Artificial Inseminationrequires male masturbation, which is prima facie wrong, since it is an act that can be considered to be unnatural, given the natural end of sex, even when semen from the husband is used. AI tends to destroy the values inherent in the married state. It makes conception a mechanical act. 2. In vitro fertilization - same objections. In addition, the process itself involves the destruction of fertilized ova which amounts to the destruction of human life.

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3. Sterilization - whether voluntary or not, is inherently wrong, for it involves defeating the natural purpose of the reproductive organs. Furthermore, according to the principle of totality, we have a natural duty to preserve the integrity of our bodies, which means that any procedure that involves “mutilation” or the destruction of the capacity of an organ to function properly is morally wrong.

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2. Utilitarian View: No reproductive technology is in itself objectionable when the use of any particular procedure, in general or in a certain case, is likely to lead to more good than not. However, a rule utilitarian might oppose any or all of the procedures if there is strong evidence to support the view that the use of reproductive technology will lead to a society in which the welfare of its members will not be served.

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3. Ross’s Ethical theory: Based on the prima facie duties of beneficence, there is an obligation to assist others in bettering their lives which justifies the use of reproductive technology as a means to promote the well-being of others for as long as there is informed conscience. 4. Kantian Principles: Not clear. May or may not justify, depending on the circumstances.

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NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES The Moral Status of the Early Human Embryo: (The embryo within the first 14 days post-fertilization)

Three Principal Viewpoints: 1. Human embryos are entitled to protection as human beings from the time of fertilization forward. Any research or other manipulation, such as freezing, that damages an embryo or interferes with its prospects for transfer to a uterus and subsequent development is ethically unacceptable. This view is based on two kinds of factual evidence: 1) The embryonic genotype is established at the time of fertilization; 2) Given the proper environment, early embryos have the potential to become full-term fetuses, children, and adults.

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2. Early human embryos have no moral status. Adult human beings have no moral obligation to early human embryos. – Scientific evidence shows the fact that only about 30-40% of embryos produced thru human sexual intercourse develop to maturity in utero and are delivered as live infants. It also notes that the biological individuality of the early embryo is established only toward the end of the first 14 days of development. - An undifferentiated entity like the early embryo, which has no organs, no limbs, and no senscience, cannot have moral status.

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Mediating Position: Accords some moral status to the early embryo, on ground of its genotype and its potential. These characteristics differentiate the early embryo from other human tissues or cells. 3.

However, this view acknowledges that the prima-facie moral obligations to early human embryos can be outweighed by other moral duties – duty to develop new and better methods of providing care to infertile couples.

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The Role of the Family and Genetic Lineage New reproductive technologies should be employed only within the family unit. Proponents: If a couple cannot conceive a child by means of their own sperm and egg cell, even with medical assistance, they should accept their infertility and explore other alternatives like the adoption of a child. Adoption is qualitatively different from the deliberte and premeditated introduction of “foreign” gametes or embryos into the family unit because adopting parents rescue an already-existing child from a situation of homelessness. Opposing Viewpoint: The practice of gamete and embryos donation is morally justified when employed by a couple for good reasons: 1. untreatable infertility, or 2. the presence of a genetic abnormality in one or both partners. 14

NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Artificial Insemination In vitro fertilization Sterilization Genetic Testing and Screening