I’m a pro-choice moralist. I don’t want the government telling people what to do with their pregnancies or their spare embryos. But that freedom doesn’t eliminate moral obligation; it intensifies it. Each of us has to decide how to respect life in all its complexity. To me, embryos aren’t people, but they’re the beginnings of people. They aren’t to be created, killed, or frozen lightly.

That means, among other things, that they should never be an afterthought. Don’t have sex, at least not the procreative kind, without discussing what you’ll do in the event of pregnancy. Don’t make or freeze embryos without thinking through what you’ll do with them. And if, after talking it over, you can’t stomach the options ahead, maybe you should reconsider whether you’re ready for this. That’s a lot to ask, I know. But nobody said choosing would be easy.

While there are several things here I disagree with, Saletan makes two important and related points.  Reproductive technologies (and, indeed the full spectrum of biotechnologies) carry an intense obligation that we ensure we act in ways that nurture and support human life, and avoid uses that destroy or even imperil life.  This requires of us the hard work of determining what should and should not be pursued and by what means.

As you prepare for the holiday weekend, maybe you’re looking for something to read while laying on the beach. Cast of Shadows is a debut novel (thriller) that gives a vivid picture of what the world might be like if cloning to produce children becomes as widely accepted and practiced as in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become. Christina Bieber Lake, associate professor of English at Wheaton College, reviewed the book for The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity in 2005.

Happy reading! (And stay warm)