The Future of Birth
Artificial wombs are not a new concept - you can find them in science and dystopian fiction books, being used to artificially house babies instead of a traditional pregnancy. However, fiction may not be too far away from reality, as scientists have created functional wombs that are able to hold and develop embryos outside of the mother’s body. Artificial wombs bring obvious positive benefits for both the fetus and the parent, such as being able to help support and develop embryos directly and separating the fetus from the mother earlier on. However, there are ethical concerns that artificial wombs have raised regarding reproductive freedom and risk.
Artificial wombs will help solve many issues related to pregnancy: by raising the baby in a visible, controlled environment that isn’t inside another living human, doctors are able to reduce infant mortality rates, diagnose and prevent infant diseases earlier and help the mother’s help drastically by reducing the time they are in labor and thus reduce pregnancy-related mortality rates. However, there are many physical risks associated with artificial wombs: the technology is too new to trust an infant’s life with, and the mother will need to go through a C-section to even begin this process. Taking out a pre-mature fetus through C-section is risky to both the mother and child, and could potentially cause more harm and risk to either than if birth was given naturally. Before we are able to use artificial wombs in a real-world setting, we need to make sure that risks are reduced and there is evidence that the wombs will provide clear, physical benefits for both the fetus and the mother.
Researchers have also been quick to point out that artificial wombs may bring about issues related to abortion and women’s rights. The United States has had a long history with abortion rights, and artificial wombs don’t make this controversial topic easier to navigate. Putting a fetus in an artificial womb creates a complicated situation where the fetus is removed from the mother’s body, but isn’t actually dead. For some states, this may create scenarios where women are given the right to separate the fetus from the body, yet not have the right to have control over its life. It could also change how viability for abortion is determined, and set the standard for abortion to much earlier (pre-infant stage) than it currently is, giving women much less control over their reproductive rights.
The artificial womb also brings about concerns regarding our humanity. Pregnancy, without a doubt, is one of the most important events in the human life cycle, and helps create a maternal bond between mother and child. Being pregnant is synonymous with new life, and can fulfill a parents’ role to give birth to a new generation. Essentially, humanity is tied to pregnancy and pregnancy is a large factor of what makes us feel human, and artificial wombs have potential to remove this humanity entirely.
Artificial wombs will be undoubtedly incredibly powerful and helpful technology once it has been fully developed and tested. Clear boundaries and definitions regarding pregnancy must be set however: what counts as an abortion (the right to stop pregnancy against the right to not have a child), the choices mothers are able to make while in labor, and the situations an artificial womb will be required for the childbirth. Even before developing guidelines for this technology, we must fully test and reduce as many potential risks as possible, alongside fully informing future parents about the dangers that the artificial womb could possibly bring. Pregnancy and having a child are life-defining moments - quite literally - for parent and child, and we must treat how we approach technologies such as the artificial womb with great caution and attention to the impact it will have on humanity as a species.
