domingo, 10 de agosto de 2014

BioEdge: the latest news and articles about bioethics

Bioedge
Michael Cook
Editor
BioEdge
BioEdge: the latest news and articles about bioethics
Hi there,
It’s amazing how mistaken I can be about how the public will react to bioethical issues. Take the recent sad case of Baby Gammy which has featured in newspapers around the world. He is a Down syndrome infant boy, one of twins carried by a surrogate mother in Bangkok for an Australian couple, David and Wendy Farnell. She refused to abort Gammy and the couple allegedly refused to take him. So now he lives in limbo with his surrogate mother.
The media was horrified, especially after it emerged that Mr Farnell, 56, had spent three years in jail for molesting two girls aged 7 and 10. Baby Gammy looked so cute and his Thai birth mother so loving. How could anyone be so heartless to propose aborting a twin? How could anyone be so heartless as to abandon their own baby? How could a paedophile be allowed to commission a surrogate mother?
To be honest, I didn’t think that the story was a big deal. I thought that everyone knew that 90% of Down syndrome babies in Australia and most Western countries are aborted. I thought that everyone knew that “foetal reduction” (ie, aborting excess children in a multiple pregnancy) is common. I thought that everyone knew that surrogacy in developing countries exploits young women. I thought that everyone knew that many, if not most, clients of these surrogates were creating unconventional families – either for gays or single women.  
How wrong I was! Apparently the media used to believe – and probably still does – that surrogacy is just an odd way to give children to doting mums and dads. They were completely ignorant of the many reasons why surrogacy is bad public policy which should be banned.
Flash! Bangkok police raided an apartment this week and discovered nine babies between one month and two years, all born to surrogate mothers from the same Japanese businessman father. The births were not registered. He is a very loving dad, his lawyer told The Japan Times. Maybe. Maybe not. It sounds to me like a child sex trafficking scheme. It happened recently in Australia. Notch up manufacturing babies to be abused as another good reason to ban surrogacy.
I hope that you enjoy this week's newsletter. Cheers,
Bioedge







by Michael Cook | Aug 09, 2014
The World Health Organisation has declared it an international public health emergency, although it has not suggested general bans on travel or trade.







by Michael Cook | Aug 09, 2014
This New York Times video sketches the burgeoning Chinese surrogacy industry.







by Michael Cook | Aug 09, 2014
Finding prostitutes for disabled clients is sometimes part of a social worker's job, even though both the legality and morality of this practice are disputed.







by Xavier Symons | Aug 09, 2014
Many sci-fi novels consider what life would be like without suffering. Philosopher David Pearce believes we can have such a life - and indeed, that…







by Xavier Symons | Aug 08, 2014
New surrogacy regulations introduced by the Thai junta government have placed hundreds of surrogate newborns and fetuses in a legal limbo.







by Xavier Symons | Aug 08, 2014
A Canadian fertility clinic has come under intense scrutiny for refusing to provide IVF for parents of different races.







by Xavier Symons | Aug 08, 2014
Debate over social priming research has intensified following an inquiry into the replicability of priming experiments.







by Xavier Symons | Aug 08, 2014
The peak body overseeing Iran's kidney trade is lobbying the government for tighter regulation on foreign nationals procuring kidney transplants.
Bioedge

BioEdge
Suite 12A, Level 2 | 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | Australia
Phone: +61 2 8005 8605
Mobile: 0422-691-615

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario