ABSTRACT
In Western cultural history, the issue of the moral status of the human embryo has been discussed within the context of abortion. Whether there was a social reason or a medical reason, there was no question of surplus embryos. Although the problem of abortion is still with us, through the various forms of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) we face a new situation: medically assisted procreation. In this situation there are human embryos in vitro, which means that they are not in the womb. With IVF, as with other technologies, we are confronted with an extension of our responsibility, which means in practice an extension of the realm of decision-making. Through IVF, we have brought ourselves into the position where we have at our disposal human embryos who are not future children in spe, because for one reason or another, we decide not to transfer them into the womb.
