Navigating the Legal and Ethical Implications of Artificial Womb Technology

Artificial Womb Technology (AWT) marks a profound turning point in the field ofreproductive science, enabling the possibility of entirely extra-uterine fetaldevelopment. As this once-impossible technology shifts from speculative fiction tothe medical realm, it raises important legal and ethical considerations. This paperconsiders how AWT challenges conventional notions of viability, legalpersonhood, parental rights, and reproductive autonomy in light of the Dobbs v.Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in 2022. It examines theimplications of redefining the point of viability to an earlier stage in gestation, thecomplexities of classifying ex utero fetuses within existing personhoodframeworks, and the potential for AWT to reshape legal definitions of parenthoodand bodily autonomy. This paper will also reflect on AWT’s potential to intensifyreproductive inequality, facilitate state coercion, and the commodification ofreproduction, in the case that access and regulation are shaped by the market.Furthermore, this paper will contend that while AWT presents transformativeways of increasing reproductive freedom and diminishing gender inequality, it isalso a technique that could exacerbate structural inequities in the absence ofstrong legal safeguards. Ultimately, this paper will argue for a regulatorystructure that is both proactive and protective, combining the freedom ofinnovation with individual autonomy, fairness of access, freedom from coercivepractices, and reimagining legal understandings of parenthood and personhoodin the era of artificial gestation.