The Politics of Women’s Eggs

A curious battle is being waged over women’s bodies in the state of California. It’s not, as one might expect, the ongoing fight over women’s rights to abortion, which I fully support. Rather, the dispute involves a woman’s right to donate her eggs for use in scientific research — and to be compensated for it. And while the clash is usually characterized as one that pits a conservative definition of “life” against a liberal embrace of a “woman’s rights to choose,” the core issues here are much more complex.

The fight began in 2004, when California voters passed Proposition 71. This initiative made stem cell research in the state a constitutional right, but state legislators — following ethical guidelines developed by the National Academy of Sciences with regard to eggs donated for stem cell research — incorporated restrictions on donor compensation. Chapter 2. Section 12355 of the California Health and Safety Code currently states:

No payment in excess of the amount of reimbursement of direct expense incurred as a result of the procedure shall be made to any subject to...