When I read this one I thought has Robert Klein lost his mind! Edi Lau, science writer with the Sacramento Bee had a piece last week, discussing the issue of offering financial compensation to women donating their eggs for science research. Klein, arguing against women being financially compensated, said he hoped employers would support their female employees wishing to donate their eggs and to pay them just as if they were doing jury duty. “It’s a public service to society,” Klein said.

These are serious moral, health and safety issues facing women today and informed consent is often lacking for these women. I would not put egg retrieval, as surgical procedure with all the risks associated with surgery in the same category of jury duty. Nor is egg donation as public service to society!

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.