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Reproductive Technologies

Throughout the past several years, the gap between technological change and policy development has continued to grow at a rapid pace.   As this gap continues to widen, Canadians continue to face important questions involving the social, legal and ethical issues involving newly developed technologies.   Canadians are concerned with how these technologies will impact society as they are faced with the situation of technology developing at a faster pace than the issues they raise can be addressed.   Many people are beginning to wonder if the federal government is doing its part to develop policies that will protect and promote human dignity and rights, ensure the health and safety of all Canadians and protect the best interests of concerned individuals.   Is the government taking the initiative to protect individuals from the harmful developments in reproductive technology?
In order to understand how the government is addressing the issues of reproductive technologies, it is important to discuss how these issues are viewed by society.   The inability to have one's own biological children is the key demand of couples that require the use of reproductive technologies.   Some Canadians feel that infertility is a dysfunction of the body and should be regarded as a medical condition (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/nrgt/chapt-3.pdf).   Other Canadians define infertility as a social condition because they believe the desire to have children results from the social pressure placed on married couples, particularly women, to bear children (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/nrgt/chapt-3.pdf).   In an effort to allow infertile couples to produce their own biological children, new reproductive technologies are being introduced.  
The government has taken steps to encourage and regulate technological development while ensuring that the values of society are maintained.   The Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies is developing federal policies to regulate the scientific...