Sex-Selective Abortion: A Matter of Choice

Williams, J. E. Hall

doi:10.1007/s10982-011-9118-x

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…As it always happens, even when there is widespread rejection of a given practice, there is always someone who favors it. For instance, Williams [37] has argued that, those who favor a eugenic stand (selective abortion of disabled fetuses to ameliorate the perceived average genetic quality of our offspring), cannot consistently accept the prohibition of sex-selective abortion, since a woman's right to choose pregnancy termination should not be limited. From a feminist theoretical perspective, it would of course be paradoxical to allow women to terminate pregnancy to prevent the birth of a female neonate, but if one takes the point of view that women have a right to abortion whatever the motivation, Williams would be right.…”

Section: The Ethics Of Sex-selective Infanticides; a Pragmatic Counter-argumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

In uteroexposure and endometriosis

Benagiano

Brosens

2013

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

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Adverse living and nutritional conditions in utero and in early infancy may influence the risk of diseases in adult life, because fetal growth seems determined by interactions between the environment and the fetal genome and these interactions may determine the risk of postnatal disease and the capacity to react to and cope with the postnatal environment. It has been proven that massive fetal exposure to toxic agents causes an increased incidence of negative outcomes in pregnant women; of particular interest is the association between in utero exposure to toxic agents and the occurrence of endometriosis. There is evidence that exposure to dioxins can facilitate short-term survival of endometrial implants in non-human primates, but there is no solid evidence that it may lead to endometriosis in humans. In the case of diethylstilbestrol, an increased risk of developing endometriosis seems well established, although the mechanisms through which diethylstilbestrol can modify endometrial physiology remain uncertain. Finally, evidence that environmental and specific dietary factors may play a role in increasing the incidence of endometriosis and other pathologic conditions has accumulated over the years. Although the hypothesis may be valid, the most recent investigations have failed to find specific, significant correlations.

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Section: The Ethics Of Sex-selective Infanticides; a Pragmatic Counter-argumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

In uteroexposure and endometriosis

Benagiano

Brosens

2013

The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

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“…This is that, because these arguments address issues that are orthogonal to the moral problem of abortion (as traditionally understood), they will predictably do little, if anything, to establish conclusions about the way abortion law should be framed that allay the central concerns of citizens who hold either moderate or more conservative views. They are not, in other words, likely to be effective or valuable proxies in public reason for those citizens' inadmissible views about prenatal moral 18 For an argument, however, to the effect that those of us who are committed to a woman's right to selectively abort for fetal disability ought also to affirm a right to sex-selective abortion, see Williams (2012). status.…”

Section: Third Parties and Abortionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Reason and Prenatal Moral Status

Williams

2015

J Ethics

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“…However, my ultimate point is not that termination for sex is morally analogous to termination for disability. Others have made this argument already, notably both with the aim of showing that sex termination is therefore morally permissible (Williams ), or alternatively, that termination because of disability is not (Wong ). The problem with an approach that analogizes disability and sex is that it presupposes—at least for the sake of argument—that these are effectively two different and separate characteristics.…”

Section: Selective Termination: Disability And/or Sexmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Case of the Missing Hand: Gender, Disability, and Bodily Norms in Selective Termination

Mills¹

2015

Hypatia

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The practice of terminating a pregnancy following the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality raises questions about notions of bodily normality and the ways these shape ethical decision‐making. This is particularly the case with terminations done on the basis of ostensibly minor morphological anomalies, such as cleft lip and isolated malformations of the limbs or digits. In this paper, I examine a recent case of selective termination after a morphology ultrasound scan revealed the fetus to be missing a hand (acheiria). Using the work of Georges Canguilhem, I show that a person with acheiria could be considered normal. Further, I show that this case reveals a kind of “undecidability” in the significance of fetal sex/gender and disability in termination. From this, I consider the conceptual interaction of disability with sex/gender, to argue that the ethics of disability termination are not as distinct from those of sex/gender selection as is commonly supposed.

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Sex-Selective Abortion: A Matter of Choice

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

In uteroexposure and endometriosis

In uteroexposure and endometriosis

Public Reason and Prenatal Moral Status

The Case of the Missing Hand: Gender, Disability, and Bodily Norms in Selective Termination

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