Philosophy Assignment | Online Homework Help

The general question is “Can a state’s interest in outlawing a pregnant woman’s sale of her unborn child to prospective clients, or the payment by such clients to the pregnant mother in exchange for the right to adopt the unborn child when it is born, ever outweigh a woman’s right to contract with such clients for such compensation prior to becoming pregnant? The specific question is “Would it not be unethical for the government to permit a surrogate mother to legally contract with prospective clients prior to becoming pregnant, for the transfer to them in exchange for monetary compensation, of all parental, including custodial, rights in respect to a child to which she has given birth, or the payment of money by such clients to the contracted surrogate mother in exchange for the client’s right [a] to require the surrogate to give up the child for adoption to them if it is healthy, or else [b] to require the surrogate to abort the child in cases where it is known that the unborn child will be born with Down syndrome?”
REQUIRED readings from Chapter Eight of our Lewis Vaughn textbook include:
[1] The Decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in
In the Matter of Baby M., 109 N.J. 396, 537 A.2d 1227 (N.J. Supreme Ct., 1988)
[2] “Surrogate Mothering: Exploitation or Empowerment?” by Laura Purdy (1989)
[and 3] “Is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” by Elizabeth S. Anderson (1990)