I’ve been following Chelsea Zimmerman’s Reflections of a Paralytic blog for a couple of years now. She is a great example of what it means to be full-spectrum pro-life. Although she writes about abortion, she also writes about issues like euthanasia, rights for the disabled, and the rights of children as they conflict with practices like surrogate parenting and/or sperm donations. In this post, she talks about a new documentary called Breeders that, according to some early reviews:
dares to go where few documentaries have dared yet to take us and where the assisted reproduction/family building industry really doesn’t want us to go: the dark heart of surrogacy where women with less financial means are treated like vessels and the children created are products made to fit the adult needs.
Women as vessels and children as products: this is why–despite the real promise–I’m starting to become more skeptical of technologies that circumvent natural procreation. It’s not a knee-jerk fear of the new as per the stereotype. It’s a thoughtful consideration of the real-world impact of these new technologies. I’m not saying we should never use surrogacy, just as an example, but I am saying we should not naturally assume that our science fiction future won’t tend towards the dystopic without some careful forethought.
That strikes me as a cliffhanger ending. Here’s hoping I have the opportunity to read such careful forethought here in the future!