In our modern world, sex is no longer the exclusive method for humans to reproduce. A new group of medical options, known as "assisted reproductive technologies," are challenging our understanding of parenthood and biological relationships. For now, the fertility industry remains largely unregulated in the United States. Where regulation of these technologies has occurred, however, it has had real-life consequences for thousands of people and ripple effects on multiple areas of the law, from adoption to abortion, from health insurance to inheritance. Assisted reproductive technologies bring to the fore important questions about who we are as individuals and families and whom society deems entitled to reproduce and parent. And these questions are not going to go away any time soon.
Please join us for an interactive conversation about these questions with a distinguished panel. Jessica Arons will present her new report, Future Choices: Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Law, which covers three areas in which legislators and courts have already spoken to some degree-health insurance coverage, embryo disposition, and parentage determinations. Jackie Payne and Miriam Yeung will then offer comments, and, along with Jessica, examine the policy implications of these legal decisions and discuss with the audience the opportunities and challenges in moving forward.
Featured Panelists:
Jessica Arons, Director of the Women’s Health & Rights Program, Center for American Progress
Jackie Payne, Director of Government Relations, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Miriam Yeung, Director of Public Policy & Government Relations, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, and incoming Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Moderated by:
Melody Barnes, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress