Karen Dawson

IVF technology and the argument from potential

Singer and Dawson point out that two arguments against abortion, that the embryo is entitled to protection because from fertilization it is (1) a human being or (2) a potential human being, are also used by opponents of embryo experimentation. They focus on the second argument, evaluating the notion of potentiality as it applies to gametes, to the unimplanted embryo, to the implanted developing embryo, and to the embryo created by in vitro fertilization (IVF). They argue that there is a crucial distinction between natural reproduction, in which all that is needed for the embryo to have a prospect of reaching its potential is for those involved to refrain from stopping it, and IVF, in which the embryo cannot develop into a person without a deliberate human act. Reproductive techniques necessitate our rethinking of established views about potentiality, and how it should be applied to the embryo in a laboratory.

Fertilisation and moral status: a scientific perspective.

The debate about the moral status of the embryo has gained new impetus because of the advances in reproductive technology that have made early human embryo experimentation a possibility, and because of the public concern that this arouses. Several philosophical arguments claiming that fertilisation is the event that accords moral status to the embryo were initially formulated in the context of the abortion debate. Were they formulated with sufficient precision to account for the scientific facts as we now understand them? Or do these arguments need modification? Aspects of three arguments for moral status being acquired at fertilisation are examined in relation to current scientific knowledge, highlighting the reasons why such arguments, at present, seem to provide an inadequate basis for the determination of moral status.

The Syngamy Debate: When Precisely Does a Human Life Begin?

The Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act passed by the Parliament of Victoria, Australia in 1984 was the first legislation anywhere in the world to deal specifically with the regulation of in vitro fertilization and embryo experimentation. As with any pioneering legislation, it has had its problems. Prominent among them was the question of precisely when an embryo comes into existence. This question, which may seem mere semantics, gave rise to a heated controversy with real practical consequences for researchers and infertile couples. The issue was only resolved by the Victorian parliament passing an amendment which specified, more precisely than any legislature had done before, the moment at which egg and sperm become an embryo. This enactment could be seen as a legal declaration of when a life begins-although it remains an open question what legal or ethical significance such a starting point possesses. The significance of the debate reaches beyond the Victorian experience, because it can now be foreseen that it will occur whenever a jurisdiction seeks to prohibit, by statute or regulation, experimentation on embryos. In this paper we shall set out the background to the controversy, examine the relevant arguments, and describe the way in which the issue was resolved.

Should fertile people have access to in vitro fertilisation

Some existing laws and some proposed legislation regulating the practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) limit its availability to infertile couples. Dawson and Singer question whether it is reasonable to so restrict access to IVF, and examine some of the medical and social circumstances in which IVF and the related procedures of embryo freezing, embryo biopsy, and embryo transfer might be used by the fertile. They argue that while society may object to some uses of IVF by the fertile, the principle of governmental non-interference with personal liberties except to prevent harm mitigate against legally restricting IVF to the infertile.

Embryo Experimentation: THE ETHICAL ISSUES

Foreword J. D. McCaughey 1. Introduction Karen Dawson Part I. The Scientific Issues: Introduction to this section Karen Dawson Why do embryo research? Alan Trounson Part II. The Moral Status of the Embryo The nature of ethical argument: an introduction Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (i) Arguments about the status of different developmental stages Fertilization and moral status Karen Dawson Segmentation and moral status Karen Dawson When does a new individual begin, and what does it matter, morally? Helga Kuhse What makes a being morally significant? Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (ii) Arguments about potential IVF Technology and the argument from potential Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse Arguing from potential Stephen Buckle Part III. Controlling Embryo Experimentation in a Democratic Society (i) Legislation or self-regulation The case for self-regulation John Funder Community control of IVF and embryo experimentation Max Charlesworth Self-regulation and embryo experimentation in Australia - a critique Pascal Kasimba (ii) Forming a public policy Public policy in a pluralist society R. M. Hare Is IVF research a threat to womens autonomy M. A. Warren IVF regulation: the search for a legal basis Pascal Kasimba How scientists view regulation: an interview with Drs Alan Trounson and Ismail Kola Karen Dawson (iii) Drawing lines. Biological processes and moral events Stephen Buckle The distinction between therapeutic and non-therapeutic experimentation Elizabeth Gaze and Karen Dawson The syngamy debate: when does an embryo begin? Stephen Buckle, Karen Dawson and Peter Singer Part IV. The First Legislation: An examination of Victorias law The Waller committee and the origins of the Victorian legistation Elizabeth Gaze Experiments on embryos: permissions and prohibitions under the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 Pascal Kasimba Legislation and the problems of research Karen Dawson When is cloning lawful? Pascal Kasimba and Margaret Brumby An interview with Louis Waller Elizabeth Gaze Conclusion Afterword J. M. Swan Glossary Karen Dawson Appendices: Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines on embryo experimentation A summary of law relating to embryo experimentation around the world Pascal Kasimba.

Embryo Experimentation: Contents

Foreword J. D. McCaughey 1. Introduction Karen Dawson Part I. The Scientific Issues: Introduction to this section Karen Dawson Why do embryo research? Alan Trounson Part II. The Moral Status of the Embryo The nature of ethical argument: an introduction Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (i) Arguments about the status of different developmental stages Fertilization and moral status Karen Dawson Segmentation and moral status Karen Dawson When does a new individual begin, and what does it matter, morally? Helga Kuhse What makes a being morally significant? Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (ii) Arguments about potential IVF Technology and the argument from potential Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse Arguing from potential Stephen Buckle Part III. Controlling Embryo Experimentation in a Democratic Society (i) Legislation or self-regulation The case for self-regulation John Funder Community control of IVF and embryo experimentation Max Charlesworth Self-regulation and embryo experimentation in Australia - a critique Pascal Kasimba (ii) Forming a public policy Public policy in a pluralist society R. M. Hare Is IVF research a threat to womens autonomy M. A. Warren IVF regulation: the search for a legal basis Pascal Kasimba How scientists view regulation: an interview with Drs Alan Trounson and Ismail Kola Karen Dawson (iii) Drawing lines. Biological processes and moral events Stephen Buckle The distinction between therapeutic and non-therapeutic experimentation Elizabeth Gaze and Karen Dawson The syngamy debate: when does an embryo begin? Stephen Buckle, Karen Dawson and Peter Singer Part IV. The First Legislation: An examination of Victorias law The Waller committee and the origins of the Victorian legistation Elizabeth Gaze Experiments on embryos: permissions and prohibitions under the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 Pascal Kasimba Legislation and the problems of research Karen Dawson When is cloning lawful? Pascal Kasimba and Margaret Brumby An interview with Louis Waller Elizabeth Gaze Conclusion Afterword J. M. Swan Glossary Karen Dawson Appendices: Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines on embryo experimentation A summary of law relating to embryo experimentation around the world Pascal Kasimba.

Embryo Experimentation: NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Foreword J. D. McCaughey 1. Introduction Karen Dawson Part I. The Scientific Issues: Introduction to this section Karen Dawson Why do embryo research? Alan Trounson Part II. The Moral Status of the Embryo The nature of ethical argument: an introduction Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (i) Arguments about the status of different developmental stages Fertilization and moral status Karen Dawson Segmentation and moral status Karen Dawson When does a new individual begin, and what does it matter, morally? Helga Kuhse What makes a being morally significant? Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse (ii) Arguments about potential IVF Technology and the argument from potential Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse Arguing from potential Stephen Buckle Part III. Controlling Embryo Experimentation in a Democratic Society (i) Legislation or self-regulation The case for self-regulation John Funder Community control of IVF and embryo experimentation Max Charlesworth Self-regulation and embryo experimentation in Australia - a critique Pascal Kasimba (ii) Forming a public policy Public policy in a pluralist society R. M. Hare Is IVF research a threat to womens autonomy M. A. Warren IVF regulation: the search for a legal basis Pascal Kasimba How scientists view regulation: an interview with Drs Alan Trounson and Ismail Kola Karen Dawson (iii) Drawing lines. Biological processes and moral events Stephen Buckle The distinction between therapeutic and non-therapeutic experimentation Elizabeth Gaze and Karen Dawson The syngamy debate: when does an embryo begin? Stephen Buckle, Karen Dawson and Peter Singer Part IV. The First Legislation: An examination of Victorias law The Waller committee and the origins of the Victorian legistation Elizabeth Gaze Experiments on embryos: permissions and prohibitions under the Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 Pascal Kasimba Legislation and the problems of research Karen Dawson When is cloning lawful? Pascal Kasimba and Margaret Brumby An interview with Louis Waller Elizabeth Gaze Conclusion Afterword J. M. Swan Glossary Karen Dawson Appendices: Infertility (Medical Procedures) Act, 1984 National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines on embryo experimentation A summary of law relating to embryo experimentation around the world Pascal Kasimba.