Biotechnology and the Law

While I'm a pretty conservative guy, I'm trying to avoid turning into yet another member of the right wing echo chamber. For this reason alone, I have Left2Right on my blogroll. A lot of the bloggers there aren't really worth reading, but J. David Velleman is one of the standout exceptions.

Velleman is Professor of Philosophy at NYU. He is writing about same-sex marriage and why he opposes it. In essence, his argument has to do with the relationship between marriage and having children. Specifically that same-sex partners can't have children without availing themselves upon modern medicine. Current self-interest groups are lobbying so that same-sex partners can have their names on the birth certificate, despite the fact that they are not the biological parents.

With biotechnology the way it is, it might be time for states to revise their birth certificates anyway. Amy and watched a program on embryo donations, where a couple donates some of their extra fertilized embryos for implantation into an infertile couple. In essence the baby has two mothers, the genetic parent and the one who actually bears the child. I'd like to see a birth certificate keep track of that. As a practical matter I think any attempt to revise a birth certificate will lead to the sort of partisan catfight I want nothing to do with.

Velleman also touches on the differences between a marriage based on mere affection and a marriage formed on more solid commitments. As they say in Downhomesville: lovin' don't keep him, cooking does.

Another excellent post by Velleman is on Moral Relativism, what it is and what it isn't. It was very interesting to here this articulated by a philosophy professor. I'm not sure I agree with all of his statements, but it is worth the read none the less.