The new reproductive technologies: defying God's dominion?
Objections that the New Reproductive Technologies pose temptations to "play God" are common. This essay examines three versions of the objection: 1) these technologies "usurp God's dominion in reproduction"; 2) they permit us to "make" our offspring; and 3) they involve us in a denial of human finitude. None proves to generate a decisive case against the New Reproductive Technologies; each requires some further argument to be persuasive. Nonetheless, warning not to "play God" are shown to have an important parenetic function in the debate over medically-assisted reproduction, occasioning needed reflection on the meaning of creatureliness, finitude and responsible co-creation in the context of new forms of reproduction.
Ryan
M A
MA
University of Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
D002410:Catholicism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012945:Social Values; D028725:Theology