Surrogate Motherhood

POLICY ON SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD

WHEREAS, Present-day medical technology has made possible the soliciting of wombs-for-hire, which has been given the name "surrogate motherhood"; and

WHEREAS, This practice is an extension of the attitude that prevails in the practice of induced abortion, which is to treat the unborn child as a commodity and the mother as an object to be used to satisfy the desires of others; and

WHEREAS, "Renting" women to produce children who are then purchased or rejected constitutes commercial traffic in human beings and is as repugnant as the prior practice of slavery, wherein one human being acquired ownership rights in another; and

WHEREAS, The well-being of the child who is the subject of this commercial transaction may be compromised by prenatal testing as a method of "human quality control" and the child may be destroyed or rejected when perceived as imperfect or unwanted; and

WHEREAS, The term "surrogate mother" obscures the fact that the woman is oftentimes the actual, natural, nurturing mother, possessing maternal feelings and instincts that cannot be suppressed by contract, agreement, or Court decree; and

WHEREAS, This practice does violence to the natural mother-child relationship and to the family unit, and will inevitably lead to abuses and problems, both foreseeable and unforeseen; and

WHEREAS, The financially disadvantaged often become surrogates for the more financially advantaged, thus offending social justice; and

WHEREAS, It is a paradox that 4,000 unborn children are destroyed each day in this country while societal and legal approval is being sought to bring about successful surrogate pregnancies; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Colorado Right to Life Committee opposes the practice known as "surrogate motherhood" and calls upon lawmakers to enact appropriate legislation declaring any such contract, agreement, or practice unlawful and contrary to public policy; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the National Right to Life Committee, Inc., at its Board meeting to be held in June, 1987, for adoption as a policy statement of the National Right to Life Committee by appropriate substitution of names within the resolution.

Adopted by the CRLC Board of Directors
May 9, 1987

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