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Navigating the Ethical Landscape of the Artificial Placenta: A Systematic Review
Alice Cavolo1,2, Angret de Boer3,4, Lien De Proost5,6
1Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME), University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Prenatal Diagnosis
|November 28, 2024
Summary
The ethical debate on artificial placenta (AP) technology reveals significant concerns. Current literature overemphasizes AP as an abortion alternative rather than its clinical use for premature infants.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Medical Technology Ethics
- Reproductive Ethics
Background:
- The artificial placenta (AP) is a novel technology with profound ethical implications.
- Existing literature presents a fragmented ethical debate surrounding AP development and application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and organize the ethical arguments concerning artificial placenta technology.
- To identify and categorize key ethical themes discussed in the literature.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of English-language articles discussing ethical arguments on AP.
- Selection based on predefined inclusion criteria.
- Analysis using the QUAGOL methodology.
Main Results:
- Three major themes emerged: foundational-ethical issues (moral status of the AP subject), reproductive ethics (impact on reproductive choices), and research ethics (participant selection for trials).
- Disagreement exists on whether the AP subject is an infant or a new moral entity.
- Concerns were raised about AP potentially limiting reproductive choices or being used as an alternative to abortion.
Conclusions:
- The ethical literature on AP is imbalanced, focusing more on hypothetical scenarios like abortion alternatives than its intended clinical use for premature infants.
- Current ethical discussions lean towards speculative "science fiction" rather than addressing the immediate clinical and technological realities of AP.
