Weighing the Right to Own an Embryo by Mike McKee

Writing to a Legal Audience

Mike McKee’s article, "Weighing the Right to Own an Embryo," made the front page of the Recorder, a daily legal newspaper published in San Francisco reporting on legal advice and interests of attorneys and legal practitioners. How did he make his article such a success? What made it front page worthy in the eyes of this legal audience? McKee’s article, "Weighing the Right to Own an Embryo," appeals to a legal audience by presenting an unbiased framework and evidence.

One way McKee achieves this success is by framing his article as a set of either-or propositions. He presents three main issues: "To Birth or Not to Birth," "Contract v. Intent," and "judicial versus legislative authority." As to the liking of most in a legal field, his article is very neatly and precisely organized. McKee attempts to present each proposition in a very unbiased view with quality evidence, allowing the reader to form his/her own opinions.

The first proposition, "To Birth or Not to Birth," presents the debate over who has the right to determine the fate of an embryo. New York legislators aimed at doing just that by introducing a bill requiring "advanced written directives from couples about how to dispose of their frozen eggs or embryos in the event of divorce, death or other unforeseen factors" (McKee 547). The purpose of this bill would be to provide written guidelines to aid in deciphering what should happen to the embryo in the occurrence of an "unforeseen" event. McKee acknowledges that there is currently a lack of judicial guidance in this area.

The second proposition McKee offers is "Contract v. Intent;" here he discusses the question of which is a better way of regulating rights. Joseph Git...

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...tion. According to Yueh-ru Chu, a former NYCLU lawyer, "You aren’t exactly playing God, but it’s not something far from it" (547).

As a reader, encountering the article, "Weighing the Right to Own an Embyro," in a textbook, I find it to provoke some questions. In the situation that both adults do not want to carry through with the process, what if the courts rule in favor of the willing party? What if the courts rule in favor of the unwilling party? This article proves to be important legally from each stand point. Even to me, someone with no interest in becoming a lawyer, the article conveyed an unbiased but thorough presentation of the facts.

1,238 Words

Works Cited

Lunsford, Andrea A., et al. Everything’s an Argument. 2nd Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,

2001.

McKee, Mike. "Weighing the Rights to Own an Embryo." Lunsford, et al. 546-549.