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Richard Stallman's Political Notes

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First steps toward artificial wombs

mardi 30 juin 2020 à 02:00

Scientists are taking the first steps that might some day lead to artificial wombs. (Not that the road will be quick or easy, even for nonhumans.)

If it becomes possible to move a 9-week fetus to an artificial womb and bring it to term, what moral implications should that have?

Except for the benefit of protecting the health of gestating women (and, ideally, fetuses also), not much. A fetus is not a baby, regardless of where it happens to be located at the time.

To protect Women's rights from theocratic oppression, we will need to reject, clearly, the idea that once a fetus is outside the mother, it has been "born" and is therefore a human being.