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Women's Right to Choose Rationally: Genetic Information, Embryo Selection, and Genetic Manipulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2003

JEAN E. CHAMBERS
Affiliation:
Jean E. Chambers, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department of the State University of New York, Oswego. She is currently working on naturalizing the context of ethical theory in general, developing a normative ethical theory with both Darwinian and feminist emphases, and analyzing special problems in bioethics and other areas

Extract

Margaret Brazier has argued that, in the literature on reproductive technology, women's “right” to reproduce is privileged, pushed, and subordinated to patriarchal values in such a way that it amounts to women's old “duty” to reproduce, dressed up in modern guise. I agree that there are patriarchal assumptions made in discussions of whether women have a right to select which embryos to implant or which fetuses to carry to term. Forcing ourselves to see women as active, rational decisionmakers tends to counteract any lingering patriarchal assumptions. But rational decisionmaking requires information. Voting wisely requires information about the candidates. Taking women's reproductive rights seriously means taking seriously women's need for relevant information to make rational decisions, including decisions about which embryos to implant or alter. I argue that preimplantation genetic profiles and prenatal test information should be made available to prospective parents, especially prospective mothers, unless doing so threatens to harm the resulting child or the larger society in specifiable and important ways.

Type
SPECIAL SECTION: BIOETHICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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