1st Edition

The Politics of Pregnancy Policy Dilemmas in the Maternal-Fetal Relationship

By Janna C. Merrick Copyright 1993
    262 Pages
    by Routledge

    262 Pages
    by Routledge

    Here is a comprehensive overview and analysis of issues concerning the maternal-fetal relationship, from abortion to surrogate motherhood. Unlike many books which cover reproductive issues in general, this book focuses in-depth on one aspect of reproduction--the maternal-fetal relationship--to give readers a detailed study of the many issues involved. The Politics of Pregnancy discusses public policy dimensions of this relationship and posits new, critical political dilemmas. Many chapters in this unique book also provide significant clinical information as well as conceptual analysis.

    The Politics of Pregnancy offers great diversity in terms of the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors and their ideological perspectives. Authors come from many fields, including sociology, political science, pediatrics, ethics, and psychiatry, and provide diverse, sometimes opposing, analytical positions. Some of the topics they debate include:

    • maternal substance use during pregnancy
    • prenatal technology
    • pregnancy and workplace hazards
    • court-ordered obstetrical intervention
    • fetal experimentation

      Readers interested in public and health care policy, nursing, feminism, pediatrics, or ethics, will find The Politics of Pregnancy to be a stimulating and thought-provoking book. This volume also makes an excellent discussion tool for graduate courses in these areas.

    Contents Reproductive Technology: Pregnant Women, the Fetus, and the Courts
    • The Moral Permissibility of in Utero(in ital.) Experimentation
    • Good, Bad, and Captive Samaritans: Adding-In Pregnancy and Consent to the Abortion Debate
    •  Webster and the Rights to Life
    • Caring for the Fetus to Protect the Born Child? Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Coerced Obstetrical Intervention
    • What Is the Purpose of Neonatal Drug Testing? Towards a Rational Social Policy
    • The War at Home: Positivism, Law, and the Prosecution of Pregnant Women
    • At Women’s Expense: The Costs of Fetal Rights
    • Analyzing Employer Motives: Evaluating the “Scientific Evidence” Upon Which Fetal Protection Policies Were Based
    • Who Is Protected? What’s Wrong With Exclusionary Policies
    • Women’s Rights vs. “Fetal Rights”: Politics, Law and Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace
    • In the Interest of the Fetus; Mandatory Prenatal Classes in the Workplace
    • Surrogate Motherhood: Implications for the Mother-Fetus Relationship
    • Reference Notes Included
    • Index

    Biography

    Janna C Merrick