Lawrence M. Hinman

The age of prospective parents is not the important issue in the debate over postmenopausal pregnancies, argues Lawrence M. Hinman in the following viewpoint. What is important, he contends, is whether the parents can meet the child’s needs. Banning reproductive technologies for women past menopause would only harm those who are ready and able to meet the responsibilities of parenthood. Hinman, a professor of philosophy and ethics at the University of San Diego, is the author of Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory and Contemporary Moral Issues.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What must prospective parents ask themselves, in Hinman’s view?
2. The author believes that prohibiting fertility clinics from helping postmenopausal women become pregnant would not work. How does he prove this by citing the Keh case?
3. In Hinman...