THE NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES - DEFYING GODS DOMINION

Objections that the New Reproductive Technologies pose temptations to ''play God'' are common. This essay examines three versions of the obj ection: 1) these technologies ''usurp God's dominion in reproduction'' ; 2) they permit us to ''make'' our offspring; and 3) they involve us in a denial. of human finitude. None proves. to generate a decisive ca se against the New Reproductive Technologies; each requires some furth er argument to be persuasive. Nonetheless, warnings not to ''play God' ' are shown to have an important parenetic function in the debate over medically-assisted reproduction, occasioning needed reflection on the meaning of creatureliness, finitude and responsible co-creation in th e context of new forms of reproduction.