Lawmakers Kill SD Surrogacy Ban
Air Date:02/14/2011
By Kealey Bultena
Members of a House committee killed a measure that bans surrogacy in South Dakota.
Supporters of the bill say surrogacy exploits women and hurts children, because it destroys the bond between mother and child. But opponents of the ban disagree.
Kristi Moen and her husband have two children of their own. But Moen is six months pregnant with her fourth child, her second surrogacy. She says surrogates choose to carry children for other parents.
"Who are we to say who can and cannot be parents? What wrong is there in bringing a life into this world to a family that has unconditional love for it even before it is born?" Moen asks. "Why would we create a law to cause good people to face civil penalties and criminal charges when all they want to do was either become a parent and have children or help someone unable to have children get that gift?"
Bill sponsor Republican Representative Roger Hunt says children should be with their mothers. Surrogates testify they are not the mothers of children they’ve carried and that those children belong with other loving families.
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