Is it ethical to alter fetuses to produce human bodies with animal consciousness/intelligence?
Is it okay to fuck said sub-humans? To make them work in our fields?
Can we specialize their abilities while keeping them at dog level intelligence?
For legal purposes does this need to be done when the fetus is part of a woman's body? (Once the fetus is in an artificial womb what rights does it have? Or can we edit a developing fetus after it's been transplanted out of a womb?)
This strays right into some big feminist arguments. 'Fetal personhood' is a big deal.
1) I hope not because in many cases fetuses have been awarded
rights in court well beyond a Mother's or a born child's.
2) I also hope not because it's far easier to fuck with us pre-existing humans (and, thought it's another argument, Royce makes a great point about 3rd World Labour satisfying your questions).
3) See 1). Why doesn't this subhuman production violate the Mother's rights?
3a) Precedent in court says quite a few but this really just depends on who is paying the lawyers.
3b) Hmm... I assume you mean legally because biologically the artificial womb part is mostly still theoretical, right? If we can, we will.
Good points, Callan and Royce. The Western Empire modifies those individuals with economic sanctions and culture though, not so much lobotomy.