(The New Atlantis) – Real regulation is long overdue. But consumer protection is not enough.

The confusion brings to light a fundamental conflict in how IVF has been regulated, and how it hasn’t. The effect of existing law for decades has been to protect the consumer — the parents — not the human life being created — the children. In the Alabama decision, these two aims have suddenly collided: in order to protect the parents’ rights to their embryos, the embryos were declared to have the same protections as any other children.

Regardless of what one thinks about IVF, a practice that creates and selects human life should be subject to the highest moral standards. For better and worse, lawmakers are beginning to pay attention to an industry that has long needed better oversight. (Read More)