1. Ireland May Ban Commercial Surrogacy

On the heels of Ireland’s attempts to expand access to various reproductive technologies and to legalize same-sex marriage, there is a counter initiative to ban commercial surrogacy within the country. We hope that those fighting for this cause will have the luck of the Irish on their side—to add to the medical and sociological evidence that attest to the fact that surrogacy is bad for women and children alike!

2. Fighting Artificial Intelligence, Saving Humanity

Jaan Tallinn, the co-founder of Skype, has founded two organizations focused on preventing artificial intelligence from destroying our humanity. While he recognizes the positive benefits that technology has brought, he’s not oblivious to the real threats it sometimes poses: “If we count the potential trillions of lives of people who are yet unborn (as we should, I believe), then existential risks completely dominate everything else.” We here at the CBC are always happy to have others join alongside us on the team for a human future!

3. “Birth Tourism” Busted in California

Federal agents raided over a dozen hotels in California this week where foreign citizens were paying to have their children born in the United States in order to obtain U.S. citizenship. In addition to fraud, government officials lamented this industry for using women as a means of breeding. We can’t help but to see so many parallels with commercial surrogacy here, and so we ask: when will the federal government crack down on other corrupt enterprises that allow this to happen?

4. Anonymous Reproduction Harms Children’s Welfare

While this headline isn’t exactly news, we would like to call your attention to an important article out this week in the Huffington Post that continues to reveal evidence of the harm to children of anonymous third party reproduction. This practice privileges the desires of parents over the real needs of children. We’re always thankful to see other critics of the practice fighting for the best interest of children.

5. CBC in Paris, France

Last year French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared that surrogacy “is and will be banned in France” because it is “an intolerable commercialisation of human beings and commodification of women’s bodies.” Jennifer Lahl and Christopher White are representing the CBC in Paris, France this weekend, helping with these efforts to keep surrogacy banned in France! During this time, there will be the first ever screening of the French translation of our surrogacy documentary, Breeders: A Subclass of Women? Jennifer will also be giving the keynote address at a conference highlighting the concerns of surrogacy. The French translation of Breeders? is also available online as well. Click here to view the FRENCH version. Or click here to view the ENGLISH version.

This Week in Bioethics Archive

Image by Jennifer Lahl

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Christopher White, Ramsey Institute Project Director