At Progressive Revival, Kate M. Ott reflects on the situation of an Ohio woman who was implanted with an embryo from another family, the ethical decision she and her family had to make, and how modern day religious organizations can engage with novel technologies:
[Advanced reproductive technologies, ARTs,] raise ethical issues and moral questions for religious leaders and the families they serve. ARTs give new hope to those who have been unable to conceive—but at what price? The technologies often impose unreasonable health risks and an extraordinary financial burden. High costs restrict the use of ARTs to the well-off and well-insured (and so far there has been no mention of assisted reproduction in the debate over healthcare reform).The [Ohio family, the Savages,] cite religious beliefs for their decisions, but religious beliefs related to ARTs range from complete opposition to caution to encouragement. What does your faith tradition say about use of ARTs, and what are those teachings based on? Long-held belief in the “blessing of fertility,” coupled with an inherent bias for biological children, can lead to repeated attempts at assisted reproduction, when there are other ways of creating family. It is time to lift up religious perspectives that value diverse family structures and expand our understanding of creativity and generativity in order to guide ethical discernment and inform compassionate counseling.
Read the full post here.