Reproductive Technology: New Ethical Dilemmas and Old Moral Prejudices

Abstract

Assisted reproductive technology and abortion are two sides of the same coin. It may not seem so to those undergoing medical procedures in either of the two areas. For a woman seeking the termination of an unwanted pregnancy, infertility is the last thing on her mind. Similarly, women undergoing fertility treatment cannot see themselves ever wanting a termination. Yet these two areas of human reproduction are intimately linked in the public consciousness. You only have to look at media coverage in the UK in the summer of 1996, to see that the whole field of reproduction is understood as one dilemma-ridden area. What became known as the ‘summer of madness’ — incorporating the wide-ranging issues of selective termination, multiple births and posthumous artificial insemination — was seen as a sure sign that reproduction, assisted or otherwise, is getting out of control.