@Smurf
"I believe nature should always be allowed to run it's course without interference, to a certain degree."
But how do you draw the line? And why should nature have the final say on anything in the first place?

"If you are unable to conceive naturally then consider adoption."
I'm sympathetic to this, actually. I think it would be admirable if people considered adoption over IVF - I don't think that the genetic link to a child is all that morally important. However, the fact that something's admirable isn't the same as it being required, and it's not even sufficient to establish that someone who does the oppsite is not equally admirable as well.

"I'm fairly sure they did not 'fit the requirements' for IVF in their home county."
I couldn't possibly comment, so I won't. None of my business.

"I mean it in a 'I really don't understand it' sense. Being a bloke, I don't think I ever will."
Sing it to me, brother! I don't get it, either. But that's not nearly enough to talk about it being "disturbing and wrong". You need to give some reason as to why that should be - what mistake would have been made by those who disagree.

"As for my 'what kind of life will it have' comment, I'm thinking if nothing changes, she is going to have to take care of a child, pretty much on her own. I'm not saying it's impossible to take care of newborn baby in a wheelchair, but, say the babies on the floor, how do you get it? What happens if there is an emergency, such as a house fire? Now the two people I've known with MS are able to look after themselves perfectly well, but do still need help with certain things."
For sure. Maybe - for the sake of the argument - a child born to a disabled parent will have less than the best possible life. But the same applies to just about every child anyway. Most - hell, all - parents are suboptimal: that's not the same as poor, though. So I don't see why we should apply different standards to the disabled.

I don't think that there is a right to reproduce - and that's only partly because I don't think that there're any rights of any sort - but I'm willing to say that there's a liberty to do so, and that others have a prima facie duty not to get in the way.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Wed 23 Apr 2008, 12:40, Reply)