Kyla Simpson’s story has become one of the clearest examples of the legal and ethical failures that can arise in commercial surrogacy. After giving birth to triplet boys for an intended parent in China, Kyla unexpectedly became their full-time caregiver when the intended parent never came to the United States to take custody of the […] The post Why International Commercial Surrogacy is Not Just Another Fertility Service appeared first on The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network .
This month, the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services held an interim hearing to examine ethical concerns surrounding surrogacy, including the exploitation of women, international surrogacy arrangements, and gaps in existing law. The hearing was convened in response to an interim charge directing lawmakers to study the impact of foreign interests in Texas’s […] The post Jennifer Lahl’s Remarks on Surrogacy before the Texas Senate Committee on Health & Human Services appeared first on The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network .
John Grondelski discusses state attorneys general's request for scrutiny of possible environmental effects associated with abortion medication. He argues for further investigation, but the article does not establish that drinking-water exposure causes the harms it raises.
Americans United for Life (AUL) is pleased to share the latest issue of our Life Litigation Report. The report tracks major bioethics cases in federal and state courts across the country. These cases range from early life issues, such as abortion and in vitro fertilization, to end-of-life questions, such as assisted suicide. The report provides an overview of current litigation trends […] The post AUL’s 2026 Life Litigation Report appeared first on Americans United for Life .
Waters uses an embryo mix-up case to examine the ethical and legal consequences of IVF errors. She argues that children created through reproductive technology have interests in biological identity that should not be reduced to the claims of adults or clinics.
Van Maren reacts to a reported case of euthanasia involving a Dutch child between one and twelve years old. He connects the case to earlier Dutch policies on ending newborns' lives and argues that the expansion crosses a moral boundary.
Waters challenges the claim that IVF is automatically pro-life because it can result in births. She focuses on embryos that are frozen, discarded or genetically selected and argues that pro-life ethics must account for every embryo created.
Van Maren discusses reporting about an Ontario assisted death in which sedation reportedly did not initially have the intended effect. He uses the case to challenge reassuring descriptions of medically assisted death and the language used to describe it.
Waters examines falling birth rates alongside the growth of IVF and fertility technology. She argues for a pro-life approach that addresses underlying infertility while scrutinizing embryo creation, loss and industry incentives.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — June 4, 2026 — At the Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC), we have long argued that surrogacy law in the United States contains serious gaps that leave women and children vulnerable to exploitation and harm. Today, those concerns are finally receiving attention at the federal level. Rep. Scott Perry has introduced two […] The post Closing the Surrogacy Loopholes No One Should Have Left Open: Protecting Children in the Surrogacy Era appeared first on The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network .
Waters introduces Rethinking Fertility as a project examining infertility and reproductive technology from a life-affirming Christian perspective. She argues that a consistent belief that life begins at conception requires greater scrutiny of IVF, embryo selection, freezing and destruction.
In a newly released paper in the prestigious journal Bioethics, three prominent bioethicists argue that when someone decides to commit suicide via self-starvation and dehydration — known in euthanasia movement parlance as “voluntary stop eating and drinking” (VSED) — doctors should be allowed to “terminally sedate” the person trying to die when necessary to prevent intractable suffering. Patients who commit VSED are often not terminally ill. In fact, euthanasia organizations promote self-starvation to the elderly who are not dying and as a means of becoming eligible for assisted suicide where
HUMAN EMBRYO ADOPTION, VOLUME TWO: CATHOLIC ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST Edited by Trent Horn and Kent Lasnoski (National Catholic Bioethics Center, 2025, paperback, 396 pp., $34.95) ___________________________________________________ THE ZYGOTE OF CHRIST AND THE MYSTERY OF MAN Francis Etheredge and El... The post BOOKNOTES: HUMAN EMBRYO ADOPTION, VOLUME TWO: CATHOLIC ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST / THE ZYGOTE OF CHRIST AND THE MYSTERY OF MAN appeared first on The Human Life Review .
What happens when science gains the power not only to heal human life, but to redesign it? Scientists are now creating lab-made embryos from stem cells, experimenting with three-parent embryos, pursuing gene editing technologies like CRISPR, and exploring ways to grow human life outside the womb. What once sounded like science fiction is rapidly becoming reality. In this episode of Bioethics Babe, internationally recognized stem cell researcher and bioethics expert Dr. David Prentice of the Science Alliance for Life and Technology (SALT) exposes the ethical dangers behind lab-made embryos, des
Andersen argues that the pro-life movement has not consistently applied its belief that life begins at conception to IVF practices. She calls for greater attention to embryo destruction, freezing and selection while maintaining compassion for families experiencing infertility.
Leading fertility organizations including ASPIRE, ESHRE, ASRM, and IFFS have proposed global consensus guidelines on surrogacy at the ASPIRE Congress 2026, aiming to establish minimum standards for surrogacy practices worldwide. These guidelines have been criticized for ignoring the United Nations' call for the abolition of surrogacy due to exploitation risks, and for being developed without the input of surrogate mothers or independent human rights experts, raising concerns that they serve to preserve rather than dismantle the surrogacy industry.
Coauthored with Stop Surrogacy Now UK The recent police raid on the home of Barrie Drewitt-Barlow in the UK—linked in reporting to a human trafficking investigation—has reignited scrutiny over the surrogacy industry and the legal structures surrounding it. According to reporting, Essex Police carried out coordinated searches as part of an investigation into allegations including […] The post The Dark Side of Surrogacy: Loopholes, Predators, Fraud, & Systemic Failure appeared first on The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network .
Catherine Wheeler recounts leaving abortion practice and explains her current approach to medical ethics. She criticizes aspects of abortion-pill provision and argues for medicine that protects both pregnant patients and unborn children.
George Delgado discusses his book and his advocacy of progesterone treatment after mifepristone. The interview presents his claims about abortion-pill reversal, informed consent, and medical ethics rather than an independent evaluation of the evidence.
If we’re just matter, why do we matter? Modern bioethics is built on a question most people never stop to ask: What is a human being? Because the answer to that question isn’t abstract, it determines how we treat the most vulnerable people among us. From IVF and embryo selection, to assisted suicide and end-of-life care, to gene editing and transhumanism. We are already making decisions about who counts and who doesn’t. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ashley Fernandes, a physician, bioethicist, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Associate Director o
Dermot Kearney discusses providing abortion-pill reversal in the United Kingdom and the professional dispute surrounding that work. The episode presents his account of beginning the service during the pandemic and his claims about its outcomes.
Do cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is in jeopardy justify abortion? These are the hardest questions in the abortion debate: emotionally charged, deeply tragic, and often used to challenge the pro-life position. But how should we think about these cases from a medical, ethical, and human perspective? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, priest, neuroscientist, and Senior Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, to take on these difficult questions head-on. We explore: If you’ve ever wondered how to think clearly and compassionately a
Kallie Fell discussed concerns about surrogacy on The Birth Lounge Podcast, highlighting issues such as exploitation, commodification, and the separation of biological, gestational, and social motherhood. The conversation also covered surrogate health risks, potential long-term impacts on children conceived through IVF, and the complex legal challenges related to contracts, autonomy, and representation.
In an age of IVF, embryo selection, and a rapidly expanding fertility industry, couples facing infertility are often given a clear message: if you want a child badly enough, technology can make it happen. But what if that’s not the whole story? What if infertility is not just a medical condition to be solved but a profound personal, relational, and even spiritual trial? And what if a life without biological children can still be deeply meaningful and truly fruitful? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Leigh Snead, author of Infertile but Fruitful, fellow with the Catholic Associ
Germany's Embryo Protection Act is facing significant political pressure due to new legislative proposals that seek to legalize surrogacy and egg donation. These changes raise concerns about the commercialization of human life, the exploitation of women's bodies, and the right of every child to know their genetic identity.
Andersen and Katelyn Walls Shelton argue that Protestant Christians need a more developed theology of the body for questions involving IVF, surrogacy and fertility. They connect reproductive ethics to a pro-life understanding of embodiment, marriage and the creation of human life.
What happens after killing is legalized? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, to examine what Canada’s euthanasia regime reveals about medicine, consent, and human dignity. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are often framed as compassion about choice, autonomy, and relief from suffering. But as Canada’s MAiD system shows, once killing becomes legal, safeguards collapse, definitions expand, and the most vulnerable people are placed at risk. In this conversation, we discuss: This is a difficult conversation,
The Center for Bioethics & Culture Network is hosting an online conference titled 'Rethinking Surrogacy: Philosophical, Psychological, & Biomedical Insights' on February 28, 2026. The event will feature five key presentations exploring the bonds between mother and fetus, intrauterine memory, experiences of women involved, and biomedical consequences for surrogate mothers, egg donors, and newborns.
Meghan Trainor recently announced the birth of her newest child through surrogacy, a practice increasingly normalized by wealthy and influential figures. The Center for Bioethics & Culture highlights concerns about the ethical implications of surrogacy, emphasizing the child's perspective and the separation of biological and gestational parentage inherent in the process.
Andersen examines an IVF embryo mix-up as evidence of legal and ethical problems created by separating conception, gestation and parenthood. She argues that reproductive technology policy should take the identity and interests of embryos and resulting children more seriously.
