Article

Navigating the Legal and Ethical Implications of Artificial Womb Technology

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Abstract

Artificial Womb Technology (AWT) marks a profound turning point in the field of
reproductive science, enabling the possibility of entirely extra-uterine fetal
development. As this once-impossible technology shifts from speculative fiction to
the medical realm, it raises important legal and ethical considerations. This paper
considers how AWT challenges conventional notions of viability, legal
personhood, parental rights, and reproductive autonomy in light of the Dobbs v.
Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022. It examines the
implications of redefining the point of viability to an earlier stage in gestation, the
complexities of classifying ex utero fetuses within existing personhood
frameworks, and the potential for AWT to reshape legal definitions of parenthood
and bodily autonomy. This paper will also reflect on AWT’s potential to intensify
reproductive inequality, facilitate state coercion, and the commodification of
reproduction, in the case that access and regulation are shaped by the market.
Furthermore, this paper will contend that while AWT presents transformative
ways of increasing reproductive freedom and diminishing gender inequality, it is
also a technique that could exacerbate structural inequities in the absence of
strong legal safeguards. Ultimately, this paper will argue for a regulatory
structure that is both proactive and protective, combining the freedom of
innovation with individual autonomy, fairness of access, freedom from coercive
practices, and reimagining legal understandings of parenthood and personhood
in the era of artificial gestation.

Keywords: Artificial Womb Technology, Dobbs, Reproductive Freedom