section_path: Philosophical considerations/Bioethics
section_name: Bioethics
paragraph_text: Bioethics
  
  The development of artificial uteri and ectogenesis raises bioethical and legal considerations, and also has important implications for reproductive rights and the abortion debate. Implementing artificial wombs would require advanced technology and significant costs, potentially limiting access for people in developing countries or with fewer resources.
  
  Artificial uteri may expand the range of fetal viability, raising questions about the role that fetal viability plays within abortion law. Within severance theory, for example, abortion rights only include the right to remove the fetus, and do not always extend to the termination of the fetus. If transferring the fetus from a woman's womb to an artificial uterus is possible, the choice to terminate a pregnancy in this way could provide an alternative to aborting the fetus.
  
  A 2007 essay theorizes that children who develop in an artificial uterus may lack "some essential bond with their mothers that other children have".