The Beginning of Life
The Beginning of Life
The chapter deals with the beginning of life by probing in greater detail the ethics of sexual and asexual procreation in the light of certain reproductive technologies that transgress the boundaries of normal sexual reproduction. Today scientists speak about the possibility of noncoital production of human embryos through somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT or the “Dolly technique”) or using the cells from in vitro human embryos that have lost their capacity to form a new individual. The advent of new reproductive technologies made possible what is impossible in nature. These new technologies also challenge respect for life and human dignity in radical ways, raising difficult ethical issues for all societies. Some of these ethical concerns form the core of this chapter and are conveyed in the questions like, “What is the moral status of the embryo?” and “What kind of respect for its life does that require from society?”
Keywords: natural creation, assisted reproduction, embryonic inviolability, infertility, surrogate motherhood, adoption, eugenics
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