Robertson Charles D
Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX, USA.
Linacre Q. 2018 Feb;85(1):35-48. doi: 10.1177/0024363918756388. Epub 2018 Mar 28.
Those who consider embryo adoption/rescue a licit means to save the lives of cryopreserved and abandoned embryos often have recourse to an analogy between gestation and wet nursing, claiming that since procreation is complete at the moment of conception, there is no moral difference between gestating another person's child and wet nursing another person's child. The claim that procreation terminates at conception is evaluated in light of the thought of St. Thomas, and a determination of the moral means of ordering oneself to the good of the species by means of procreation is made in accordance with the natural law reasoning advocated by that saint. The Catholic Church teaches that procreation must be the fruit of the marriage act. Some moral theologians consider procreation to be complete at the moment of conception and so conclude that the impregnation of a woman by means of embryo transfer does not violate the principle that procreation must be the fruit of marriage. Others, however, consider procreation to include gestation and birth. This article advances reasons why the latter view should be preferred and what this entails for the ethics of embryo adoption or rescue.
那些认为胚胎收养/拯救是拯救冷冻和被遗弃胚胎生命的合法手段的人，常常诉诸于妊娠与哺乳之间的类比，声称既然受孕之时生育就已完成，那么孕育他人的孩子与哺乳他人的孩子在道德上并无差异。根据圣托马斯的思想，对受孕时生育即终止这一说法进行了评估，并依据这位圣人所倡导的自然法推理，确定了通过生育使自身趋向物种之善的道德方式。天主教会教导说，生育必须是婚姻行为的结果。一些道德神学家认为受孕之时生育就已完成，因此得出结论，通过胚胎移植使女性受孕并不违反生育必须是婚姻结果这一原则。然而，另一些人则认为生育包括妊娠和分娩。本文提出了为何应优先选择后一种观点的理由，以及这对胚胎收养或拯救伦理意味着什么。
