De-Regulating Assisted Reproduction: Some Reflections

It seems to be widely accepted in the United Kingdom that some form of regulation of assisted reproductive technologies is appropriate. Drawing on the position of the Warnock Committee, the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act sought to control assisted reproduction and research using human embryos. However, a recent report from the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology recommended a more libertarian approach to assisted reproduction, arguing that the legitimacy of the state's intervention needs to be justified rather than assumed. This article explores the extent to which it is now justified to control access to assisted reproduction and concludes that the regulatory mechanism currently in place is unnecessarily restrictive.