Israel legalises surrogacy for single mothers, not gay couples
by Xavier Symons | 21 Jul 2018 |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under fire for failing to support an amendment to a bill that would have allowed access to surrogacy for gay men.
On Wednesday the Knesset voted 59 to 52 in favour of the law to extend access to surrogacy to single women, but stopped short of including single men in the reforms.
An amendment to the bill was proposed by Likud party member Amir Ohana, who is himself gay, that would have allowed LGBT couples to access surrogacy. But Mr Netanyahu failed to support the amendment, allegedly after being pressured by ultra-orthodox parties that oppose the move.
Gay rights groups around the country were indignant, labelling Mr Netanyahu a homophobe and calling on protesters to take to the streets. “This is a huge disappointment,” said prominent LGBT activist and Tel Aviv city council member Yaniv Waizman. “The law purposely excluded single men because [its sponsors] did want gays to be included”.
Sunday, July 22, 2018
We’re back! Holidays are over and BioEdge has resumed publication. Now, while we’re still fresh and enthusiastic, is the time for our readers to make suggestions for improving our coverage.
This week the lead story focuses on a report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in Britain which has given an in-principle endorsement to germline modification. While the report is purely advisory, most of its recommendations on similar topics have eventually become law in the UK. For this reason, its advice to the British government is bound to have a world-wide impact.
Most people, including members of Parliament, will only read newspaper articles about this radical development in genetics. But it is fundamentally a philosophical, not a scientific question: what makes us human?
The Nuffield report fails to answer this, but the full report is scathingly critical of what it calls “genomic essentialism”: we are not our genes. Instead, as I read it, it has framed the question as a consumer rights issue: provided that the technology is safe, don’t couples have a right to have the kind of children they want?
What do you think?
 Michael Cook Editor BioEdge |
NEWS THIS WEEK
by Michael Cook | Jul 21, 2018
“It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” says report author.by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
Could we have an obligation to gene-edit embryos? by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
65-year-old Robert Latimer wants his life-sentence to be revoked. by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticised for failing to support reform. by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
The nurse has confessed to killing at least 20 patients. by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
The doctor used acrylic glass for a buttock-enhancing operation. by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
Current guidelines state that doctors should consider the “social support” of patients. by Xavier Symons | Jul 21, 2018
A new edition of a prominent journal takes aim at teleology in medico-ethical theory. BioEdge
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