In Japan, an artificial womb has been created that incubates goat fetuses. The scientists who developed it say they are working on a model that can be used for human fetuses, but that the technology is ten or more years away.

The womb is a plastic box filled with amniotic fluid and attached to a number of devices that monitor vital functions. Researchers remove the fetus from the mother at 17 weeks of development. A pump replaces the placenta by supplying oxygen and food that goes directly into the fetus's blood. The fetus lies submerged in the fluid, and its blood supply is cleaned and oxygenated by a dialysis machine through the umbilical cord.

Currently a goat fetus can stay in the womb a maximum of three weeks, but scientists are working to extend this time and to solve the problems when the goat fetuses are removed from the artificial womb. Some have lived for a few days, others for much longer.

Unfortunately, the media has sensationalized the research and distorted the device's use. They have speculated that women might want this technology because it would free them from the pain of childbirth. Scientists, however, envision how the artificial womb would benefit women with frequent miscarriages or problems with pregnancy and/or infertility.

1. Should scientists continue this research and development? Why or why not?
2. Why would some people be against this technology? Give three reasons.
3. Would you personally use this artificial womb?
4. In the movie The Abyss, divers use a liquid ventilation that fills the lungs with fluid and allows the lungs to extract oxygen from the water. This technology is actually under experimentation in a laboratory in Pennsylvania. How does it relate to the artificial womb?
5. At present, a woman has legal rights over her own fetus. Who would "own" or have legal responsibility for the fetus in an artificial womb?
6. How might the artificial womb affect the abortion debate?