基本説明
New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 2001. Drawing on concepts from medical ethics, feminist theory, and Roman Catholic social teaching.
Full Description
For those who undergo it, infertility treatment is costly, time-consuming, invasive, and emotionally and physically arduous, yet technology remains the focus of most public discussion of the topic. Drawing on concepts from medical ethics, feminist theory, and Roman Catholic social teaching, Maura A. Ryan analyzes the economic, ethical, theological, and political dimensions of assisted reproduction. Taking seriously the experience of infertility as a crisis of the self, the spirit, and the body, Ryan argues for the place of reproductive technologies within a temperate, affordable, sustainable, and just health care system. She contends that only by ceasing to treat assisted reproduction as a consumer product can meaningful questions about medical appropriateness and social responsibility be raised. She places infertility treatments within broader commitments to the common good, thereby understanding reproductive rights as an inherently social, rather than individual, issue.
Arguing for some limits on access to reproductive technology, Ryan considers ways to assess the importance of assisted reproduction against other social and medical prerogatives and where to draw the line in promoting fertility. Finally, Ryan articulates the need for a compassionate spirituality within faith communities that will nurture those who are infertile.
Contents
Preface Introduction 1. The Economics of Infertility Myths and Realities in the Economics of InfertilityIntersection: Ethics and EconomicsDistributive Justice and Assisted Reproduction 2. The Ethics of Assisted Reproduction The Ethics of Assisted ReproductionWhat about Adoption?Reproduction and the Common Good 3. Assisted Reproduction and the Goals of Medicine Infertility, Suffering, and the Goals of MedicineLiving with InfertilityInside/Outside: The Medical Construction of InfertilitySome Preliminary ConclusionsReflecting on the Goals of Medicine 4. Reconceiving Procreative Liberty John Robertson and the Meaning of Procreative LibertyRights Talk and the Critique of Procreative Liberty, American-StyleBorder TensionsProcreative Liberty and Catholic Social TeachingConclusion 5. Assisted Reproduction and Access to Health Care Human Dignity and Access to Health CareA Decent MinimumSufficiencyInvestments in ReproducingEquity and AccessAt the BoundariesSetting Limits Conclusion6. Faith and Infertility Mixed Messages and Missed OpportunitiesCreating a ContextFrom Spiritual Crisis to Spiritual QuestConclusions and the Work Yet to Be Done Conclusion Index
