the goan I network
PANAJI
He was speaking on ‘Surrogacy: Ethical, legal and socio-economic issues’ at the annual Justice G D Kamat memorial lecture at Panaji.
“Enforcement of a law depends on acceptability by society as such. If common masses don’t accept a law, it cannot be enforced. Before making a law, create awareness among the people of how their rights will be affected. Debate first and then make the law,” Justice Chauhan urged while adding that the legislature needs to take into account the present culture as well as traditions and find out if the society is ready for such a law.
In his 45 minute speech, Justice Chauhan led his audience through​ the various issues which are woven into the single matter of surrogacy. These issues range from the exploitation of a woman’s body by the reproductive technology industry, exploitation of the child, live-in relationships, teenage pregnancies, homosexual couples to the issue of discrimination as the bill permits only family members to serve as surrogates and just once in their lifetime.
He also delineated the serious issues which would crop up before the judiciary if the bill sails through the Parliament. For instance, the refusal of the biological parents to accept the child if the child is not as per specification, miscarriage suffered by the surrogate, death or separation of the biological​ parents prior to birth of the child, paternity of the child, foreign donors and so on. “The most serious of these includes the emotional attachment of the surrogate mother to the child. We can solve any legal problem on earth but not a human problem. This would be a human problem where a life and human emotions would be involved,” Justice Chauhan pointed out.
He observed that it a not mere legality and public policy but also morality which is involved in the drafting of the bill. “Whether the child is a commodity for sale which can be transferred and whether it is immoral to create life for money is a long-standing issue. Law progresses after reconciliation with changing morality. But though surrogacy may receive legality, it might not have respect in society if the grounds are not prepared for the law,” he noted and offered that law sometimes coincides with morality but that in most cases, it does not.
