Law Commons^™

Surrogacy And Human Flourishing, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Opposition to legalizing surrogacy often involves the argument that it commodifies or objectifies women and children. When surrogacy involves consenting parties claiming to benefit from the transaction, commodification- or objectification-based arguments seem unpersuasive. This article argues that new natural law theory offers an alternative case against legalizing surrogacy based on the violation of basic goods of human flourishing, a notion which unpacks afresh what is really at stake in the commodification/objectification arguments. Exploring the new natural law approach through John Finnis’s theory, this article suggests that the new natural law case against surrogacy hinges on the link between childbirth and …