Medical ethics and broadening the context of debate

Correspondence to Professor John McMillan, Bioethics centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; john.r.mcmillan68@gmail.com The Journal of Medical Ethics has published a few papers over recent years that explore the ethical implications of ectogenesis.1–4 It is an as yet undeveloped but theoretically possible method by which a fetus can be gestated outside of the womb, and while the prospects of ‘full’ ectogenesis seem some way off, there are techniques that suggest ‘partial’ ectogenesis could be closer. [...]that it might be that risks of ectogenesis to public policy and abortion (it could mean that otherwise nonviable foetuses become viable) should be weighed in an assessment of its permissibility. Artificial womb technology and the frontiers of human reproduction: conceptual differences and potential implications.