Ruth Deech and Anna Smajdor
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199219780
- eISBN:
- 9780191713002
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199219780.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Medical Law
This chapter explores the ethical issues raised by reproductive technologies. The authors discuss the idea that relief of infertility is in itself a worthy ethical goal. They evaluate the concept of ...
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This chapter explores the ethical issues raised by reproductive technologies. The authors discuss the idea that relief of infertility is in itself a worthy ethical goal. They evaluate the concept of autonomy in the context of reproduction, and evaluate the role of law and regulation in constraining people's reproductive desires. The risks associated with reproductive technology are discussed, and the effects of individual reproductive decisions on the public are considered. The importance of consent in the context of fertility treatment is explored, and the idea that reproduction is inherently private is analysed. Ethical considerations related to children born as a result of reproductive children are also considered.Less
This chapter explores the ethical issues raised by reproductive technologies. The authors discuss the idea that relief of infertility is in itself a worthy ethical goal. They evaluate the concept of autonomy in the context of reproduction, and evaluate the role of law and regulation in constraining people's reproductive desires. The risks associated with reproductive technology are discussed, and the effects of individual reproductive decisions on the public are considered. The importance of consent in the context of fertility treatment is explored, and the idea that reproduction is inherently private is analysed. Ethical considerations related to children born as a result of reproductive children are also considered.
Imogen Goold
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198796558
- eISBN:
- 9780191837814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198796558.003.0014
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Medical Law
This chapter examines reproductive liberty and autonomy and considers whether constraints on either can be justified. Reproductive liberty is the view that people should be free to make their own, ...
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This chapter examines reproductive liberty and autonomy and considers whether constraints on either can be justified. Reproductive liberty is the view that people should be free to make their own, unfettered choices about reproduction insofar as these do not have unreasonable harmful impacts on others. This includes choosing to have children and choosing to avoid doing so. Those afflicted by infertility or inherited conditions, those who wish to create a saviour sibling, and those who prefer to use a surrogate cannot achieve their reproductive goals without Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). If there is a lack of choices, or those choices are restricted (such as by restricting access to ARTs), then they may not be able to achieve their goals. The concept of reproductive autonomy comes into play at this point. Reproductive autonomy goes beyond the notion of merely permitting choice and demands more: that people’s choices about reproduction are facilitated.Less
This chapter examines reproductive liberty and autonomy and considers whether constraints on either can be justified. Reproductive liberty is the view that people should be free to make their own, unfettered choices about reproduction insofar as these do not have unreasonable harmful impacts on others. This includes choosing to have children and choosing to avoid doing so. Those afflicted by infertility or inherited conditions, those who wish to create a saviour sibling, and those who prefer to use a surrogate cannot achieve their reproductive goals without Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs). If there is a lack of choices, or those choices are restricted (such as by restricting access to ARTs), then they may not be able to achieve their goals. The concept of reproductive autonomy comes into play at this point. Reproductive autonomy goes beyond the notion of merely permitting choice and demands more: that people’s choices about reproduction are facilitated.
Chikako Takeshita
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262016582
- eISBN:
- 9780262298452
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262016582.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Bioethics
The intrauterine device (IUD) is used by 150 million women around the world. It is the second most prevalent method of female fertility control in the global South and the third most prevalent in the ...
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The intrauterine device (IUD) is used by 150 million women around the world. It is the second most prevalent method of female fertility control in the global South and the third most prevalent in the global North. Over its five decades of use, the IUD has been viewed both as a means for women’s reproductive autonomy and as coercive tool of state-imposed population control, as a convenient form of birth control on a par with the pill and as a threat to women’s health. This book investigates the development, marketing, and use of the IUD since the 1960s. The book offers a biography of a multifaceted technological object through a feminist science studies lens, tracing the transformations of the scientific discourse around it over time and across different geographies. It describes how developers of the IUD adapted to different social interests in their research and how changing assumptions about race, class, and female sexuality often guided scientific inquiries. The IUD, the book argues, became a “politically versatile technology,” adaptable to both feminist and nonfeminist reproductive politics because of researchers’ attempts to maintain the device’s suitability for women in both the developing and the developed world. The book traces the evolution of scientists’ concerns—from contraceptive efficacy and product safety to the politics of abortion—and describes the most recent, hormone-releasing, menstruation-suppressing iteration of the IUD.Less
The intrauterine device (IUD) is used by 150 million women around the world. It is the second most prevalent method of female fertility control in the global South and the third most prevalent in the global North. Over its five decades of use, the IUD has been viewed both as a means for women’s reproductive autonomy and as coercive tool of state-imposed population control, as a convenient form of birth control on a par with the pill and as a threat to women’s health. This book investigates the development, marketing, and use of the IUD since the 1960s. The book offers a biography of a multifaceted technological object through a feminist science studies lens, tracing the transformations of the scientific discourse around it over time and across different geographies. It describes how developers of the IUD adapted to different social interests in their research and how changing assumptions about race, class, and female sexuality often guided scientific inquiries. The IUD, the book argues, became a “politically versatile technology,” adaptable to both feminist and nonfeminist reproductive politics because of researchers’ attempts to maintain the device’s suitability for women in both the developing and the developed world. The book traces the evolution of scientists’ concerns—from contraceptive efficacy and product safety to the politics of abortion—and describes the most recent, hormone-releasing, menstruation-suppressing iteration of the IUD.
Tamar W. Carroll
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469619880
- eISBN:
- 9781469619903
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469619880.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash ...
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This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) against a domestic ban on abortion, held on top of the Statue of Liberty. By selecting the Statue of Liberty as the site of their protest, these activists ensured that Americans would rapidly understand the connection they were drawing between individual freedom, misunderstandings of American exceptionalism, as well as women's reproductive autonomy. In relation to this, New York's many landmarks gave a range of unique venues for activism. Demonstrations, marches, strikes, acts of civil disobedience, and even poster campaigns provided global reach as print, broadcast, and online media inform the greater public.Less
This introductory chapter explains how social activism in New York has been able to appropriate new meaning to the city's landmarks, specifically the joint protest of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!) against a domestic ban on abortion, held on top of the Statue of Liberty. By selecting the Statue of Liberty as the site of their protest, these activists ensured that Americans would rapidly understand the connection they were drawing between individual freedom, misunderstandings of American exceptionalism, as well as women's reproductive autonomy. In relation to this, New York's many landmarks gave a range of unique venues for activism. Demonstrations, marches, strikes, acts of civil disobedience, and even poster campaigns provided global reach as print, broadcast, and online media inform the greater public.
James S.J. Schwartz
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190069063
- eISBN:
- 9780190069094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190069063.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This chapter argues that there is not an urgent need for humans to establish space settlements. It defends the existence of an in-principle obligation to settle space to ensure long-term human ...
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This chapter argues that there is not an urgent need for humans to establish space settlements. It defends the existence of an in-principle obligation to settle space to ensure long-term human survival, and shows that such an obligation is not defeated by various forms of skepticism about duties to future generations, including the “Non-Identity” problem. However, it argues that for the foreseeable future, space settlements will not be effective tools for ensuring long-term human survival, and that for the time being, the scientific exploration of space should be prioritized over space settlement. It also argues that space settlements would risk the wrongful exploitation of settlers and their descendants, and that space settlement would be impermissible if it led to diminution of reproductive autonomy.Less
This chapter argues that there is not an urgent need for humans to establish space settlements. It defends the existence of an in-principle obligation to settle space to ensure long-term human survival, and shows that such an obligation is not defeated by various forms of skepticism about duties to future generations, including the “Non-Identity” problem. However, it argues that for the foreseeable future, space settlements will not be effective tools for ensuring long-term human survival, and that for the time being, the scientific exploration of space should be prioritized over space settlement. It also argues that space settlements would risk the wrongful exploitation of settlers and their descendants, and that space settlement would be impermissible if it led to diminution of reproductive autonomy.
