Rights and Issues of Procreation

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Issues of Procreation:
The right to procreate and bear children is a constitutional protection for every individual in addition to the right to marry. However, procreation is a subject that has attracted huge concerns and debates in the recent past, especially because of the development of modern reproductive assistance technology. This advancement has contributed to the emergence of several issues on this topic because it has made procreation to be an increasingly instant and practical process. One of the major types of modern reproductive assistance technology that has generated huge controversies is artificial insemination. Generally, the development of assisted reproduction techniques has raised ethical dilemmas in light of the right to procreate or reproduce (Schenker & Eisenberg, 1997, p.167).
In addition to artificial insemination, the process of in-vitro fertilization has raised some major controversies that are centered on whether it is morally acceptable to meddle in the reproduction process. As part of the process of medically assisted procreation, in-vitro fertilization and its associated therapeutic approaches are used to enable infertile and untreatable couples to have children. The most common form of in-vitro fertilization is intracytoplasmic sperm injection, which enables clinicians to palliate most of masculine pathologies in order to deal with male infertility. While in-vitro fertilization has helped in dealing with male and female infertility, there are several potential risks associated with it including embryonic decrease, multiple pregnancies, cloning, risk of transmission of infectious disease, choice of donors, and donor motivation (Germond, n.d.). These issues emerge from the fact that the process involves the practice of surrogacy, a third party through genetic material donation, cryopreservation of and experiments on pre-embryos, and genetic manipulation.
The second major issue in procreation is abortion, which has become a major controversial issue that has generated differing opinions from pro-life supporters and pro-choice advocates. Pro-life supporters are those who believe that life begins at conception and argue that abortion is equal to murder and is therefore prohibited while pro-choice are those who consider absolute independence of the woman over her body and argue against taking other extreme approaches. As a result of these differing opinions, debates or controversies regarding abortion is centered on whether the practice is legitimate or illegitimate. However, access to safe abortion is an important issue to women’s health and to their independence over their bodies. Generally, the consideration of the fetus as human has a potential impact on women’s right for independence over their bodies.

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