Surrogacy Should Be Allowed In The United States

Abortion should be illegal in the United States of America. Since abortion was made legal in 1973, almost 57 million babies have been murdered by abortion. At the rate of 2,900 babies aborted a day, or 1,058,500 a year, the death toll is averaging almost double the deaths caused by the “leading cause of death” in the U.S., heart disease. These are 57 million people, who could've grown up to cure cancer, or found a reliable and abundant clean source of energy. Also, women who have had abortions almost always are psychologically affected in some form or another. These affects include, but are not limited to; regret, anger, guilt, shame, sense of loneliness or isolation, anxiety and depression, and suicidal thoughts or feelings/actions. In fact,

There are four types of surrogacy. First is the traditional, or formally known as genetic surrogacy. Genetic surrogacy is when the carrier donates both her eggs and her womb. With this route, there are many legal issues that the parents could face. Under the law, the carrier is the mother of the child. It is also unethical and illegal, according to the 13th amendment, to hand over the custody of a child for money. Also, against the 13th amendment, there is a forced separation of mother and child in this situation. One of the biggest risk that parents take with this type of surrogate mother, is that the mother is allowed to decide to keep the baby and they can do nothing about it. The surrogate mother, by law, is allowed to keep this baby because it is her egg which means that it is biologically her child.

Commercial surrogacy is the process in which a woman is paid a fee to carry and deliver a baby to term. Once the baby is delivered, the woman relinquishes all parental rights to the commissioning couple who exclusively raise the child as their own. Altruistic surrogacy, by contrast, is an arrangement where the surrogate receives reimbursement but only for the expenses that she may have incurred during the pregnancy. In this essay I will argue that commercial surrogacy should not be market-inalienable. I will start by outlining Elizabeth Anderson’s argument in “Is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” in which she offers a number of criticisms to commercial surrogacy. I will then outline objections to the argument and highlight how her argument is highly speculative and does not provide an adequate basis for the prohibition of commercial surrogacy.

Why the law is contradictory and ineffective when it comes to overseas surrogacy- Altruistic surrogacy is diversely regulated by the states and territories, raising the issue of the interaction of those laws in international cases. Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in Australia, but is permitted in other countries. An increasing number of Australians exploit this difference by entering into commercial surrogacy agreements overseas, raising the question of the effect of such agreements in Australia. Suggesting that the well-meaning regulation of altruistic surrogacy and criminalisation of commercial surrogacy within Australia is likely to be ineffective in cross-border situations. Accordingly, suggests to reform the Australian law and endorses

This is best described in the article “Rules get tough for overseas surrogacy”. People using surrogate mothers in India may no longer be able to do so after the Immigration Department said it would not guarantee citizenship to babies. India is one of the most popular destinations for couples seeking surrogacy arrangements is changing its laws to require prospective parents to obtain a guarantee of citizenship for their child before starting the surrogacy process.

Some aspects may have been over looked, or the surrogate could develop issues once the child is born, hence the case of 'Baby M.'

Surrogate motherhood is considered the most controversial form of medically assisted conception. Surrogacy is defined as an arrangement by which a woman gives birth to a baby on behalf of a woman who is incapable of conceiving babies herself or is infertile. The issue of surrogacy has been running for almost three decades. Elizabeth Cane was the first woman in the United States to legally become a surrogate mother in 1980 (Chittom and Wagner). Surrogate births are illegal in many countries, including some states in the United States. For example, it is illegal in Michigan, Washington, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and New York, whereas it legal in California, Oregon, Texas, and Arkansas (Chittom and Wagner). According to the Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy (OPTS), about 22,000 babies have been born from surrogate mothers in the United States since surrogacy became legal in the 1970s (Chittom and Wagner).

This makes for a major divide in what should be done in the case of women having an abortion. In Paula Abram’s The Bad Mother: Stigma, Abortions, and Surrogacy, she talks about how stigma is placed on both surrogacy and abortion because conservatives view them both as unnatural ways of maternity. What people on this side of the argument fail to understand is that women seek a surrogate when they are physically incapable of carrying a child, but want to start a family. Stigma is tied heavily into surrogacy, because not only are women seeking this service, but gay and trans people seek to start families, and use surrogacy to do so. Stigma is also placed here because others believe that surrogacy disrupts the traditional expectations regarding pregnancy. But because of recent laws that allowed gay couples the right to marry, this opened up the opportunity for gay and trans couples to start families. This is not to say that gay and trans couples weren’t already starting families through surrogacy and adoption, but the right to marry allows them the opportunity to make for a more traditional process of marriage and family. Surrogacy has allowed married couples, unmarried couples, and even singles to raise children and families, which may seem untraditional to some, but a way of life for others.

Approximately 57 million unborn children have been affected by the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize abortion since the Roe vs. Wade court case according to a study conducted by the Director of Education and Research at the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon. If abortion remains legalized in the United States, it will only continue to contribute to the dangers of abortion that women are faced with as well as resume to kill unborn children. Furthermore, adoption is a much better option for anyone in an unwanted pregnancy.

In the past few decades, the issue of abortion rights has created debates and controversy within the United States. Those who criticize the act of abortion – pro-life – argue that the act of abortion is equivalent to the murder of a baby. Those who support the legalization of abortion – pro-choice – argues women should be able to choose whether or not they want to have an abortion. Currently, abortion is legal in all states – a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe vs. Wade. However, it has become increasingly common for states to create anti-abortion laws, which makes it more difficult to have an abortion. In 2014, Missouri state representative Rick Brattin proposed H.B.131, a house bill that would require women to receive a written consent from the biological father in order to have an abortion. This bill serves to prevent women from having an abortion.

Surrogacy is not a conspiracy to take down the government. It is simply a way for people who are are unable to have a baby, have a baby. Surrogacy involves the parents to be, the surrogate, and doctors. The government has no place in the process so they have no reason to want to ban or regulate it. Surrogacy is not harmful to anyone, there is no reason for it to be banned or regulated. Everyone deserves the right have a child, they deserve the happiness that having a child will bring them. Surrogacy can bring them that happiness.

Laws are legislated and enforced for the mere purpose of protecting all individuals in a society by stating what is and what is not acceptable behavior. Though it is impossible for these legislative decisions to please every single individual in a society, these governs are passed in morality of the thousands of elected parties in charge. Commercial surrogacy is a current complex issue that evokes strong moralistic response. Commercial surrogacy takes away the childbearing element in the reproductive period for individuals looking to have or extend a family. It has opened the doors for many who cannot bear children of their own though this behavior has also raised many concerns about the appropriate scope of the market. This “method for acquiring children” is more commonly objected because the children and women’s reproductive ability are being treated as a commodity. Summed up through Elizabeth S. Anderson’s article, “Is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” children are buyer durables and women are baby factories (Anderson 82). Anderson communicates commercial surrogacy children as commodities stating how this “market” that these children are born into expresses attitude that endorses market norms as opposed to ‘norms of parental love”(Anderson 76). Anderson focuses her paper towards the manipulation, alienation, and exploitation of women that commodifies women’s reproductive capacities. Through Anderson’s argument and her perceptive relations of this market to alienation,

In today’s society, surrogacy is becoming a more and more popular and common issue. For many couples who cannot or unwilling to carry babies by themselves, surrogacy is the first choice to have their own babies and build a family. The legality of surrogacy is different for every country. There are countries that consider the birth mother as the legal mother while there are those that don't. Besides, a lower price of surrogacy in developing countries drives them to find surrogate mother overseas. Thus, international

On the flipside on the issue, can it not also be viewed that allowing these women to do as they see fit with their bodies as economic empowerment? The money provided to these women can used for various financial means outside of taking care of medical heath care for themselves and the child. The amount provided to each female varies depending on what she and the couple feel is sufficient, therefore any extra monetary compensation can used to help the women relieve themselves from other debts. Autonomy does provide the right that women get to choose their reproductive rights and that includes bearing children for those who cannot do so or for monetary stability. Suggesting that surrogacy dehumanizes her is another form of paternalism. Paternalism limits one’s autonomy for their own good (Pozgar, 2012).

Surrogate Motherhood is something that not many people actually support, even though it “is one of the many reproductive techniques that have enabled infertile couples to have children” (qtd. in Freedman). There are two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational. The traditional type of surrogacy involves the surrogate mother being (AI) artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intended father or sperm from a donor when the sperm count is low. In either case the surrogate’s own egg will be used. Genetically the surrogate becomes the mother of the resulting child (Storey). Although there are two different types of surrogacy, a traditional surrogacy is rarely seen or done anymore. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother has