Rethinking Reproductive Freedom
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RETHINKING REPRODUCTIVE FfiEEDOhI: IX-VITRB FERTILIZATION AND A WOh.lAi"tl'S SIGHT TO CHOOSE Vaf da Dohlen B.A., University of Regina 1988 Honours Certificate, University of Regma 1990 THESIS SUBMTTTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUmhENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Depal-tment ot Women's Studies O Valda N. Dohlen 1992 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY July 1992 rights reserved. "This work may not be reproduced in xvE,ole or in part, by photocopy or otkr means, without permissio~iof the author. 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Ni la thhse ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celte-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent etre imprimes ou hisfher permission. autrement repreduits sans son - autorisation. Name: Vaida Dohiert Degree: 34as:er of Arts Title of*Thesis: Rethinking Kep:odttcrit.s Freedom: In-t-iiso Fertilization and a tiroman's Right to Ciioox Examining Committee: Chair. Marjorie Cohen, Proikssor of Women's StudiesPolltical Science Senior Snpenisor Associate Professor of IYoi~isn'sStudies and Philosophy hleredith Kirnball Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Psychology Sue Penfold External Examiner Professor of Psychiatry, Lrnivs~sitpof British Columbia I r%r.CFnI l-7- AHSIKAL a For decades the fen;ii:;st stmeirkb- for reproductive freedom has centred around the principie of a wornail's fight to choose - a philosophy whch has afiinned he abiliti and right of ail women to make coriscientious moral ctwices regarding reproduction. Recent developmeilts in conceptive technolog>!, hokvever, are raising new issues for the pro-choice movement. In partictilar, there is a -mowing body of feminist researck whch highlights the negative impact that highly tzchnologicai procedm-es. such as in-vitro Fer-tilization, habe oil women's reproductive freedom. Based on this research, mall: feminists argue against ally frirther developmen: or application of IVF. III respome, ad~~ocatzsof IVF argue that it is inconsistent for pro-choice feminists to support teclunolo_py to prevent or terminate a pregnancy and oppose technolop designed to achieve one. It is this apparent contradiction which lies at the centTe of this theyis. More specifically. this work is an attempt to re-examine the 'right to chmse' approach to wo~nen'sreproductive freedoin. I argue that a political movement based on the individi!ai right to choose is ultimately insufficient to guarantee \wmenis reproductive freedom, and that feminists must now move beyond the issue of who should decide. to consider the reproductive options available to wornen and the conditions tinder ~vhiclnthey make their choices. The question is no longer whether pro-choice advocates are inconsistent if they do not srtppo1-i any a~idail rechnological developments. It is whether certain t~'tfi11010gicduptims are consistent ivitli a feminist morality of choice. Uliirnatet)., I want to affirm that the feminist struggle for reproductive freedom is not simpt.\.;a demand for the right to choose. It is also a demand for reproductive options which respect the integity of women's bodies and rhe physical and psychoiogical healrit of\vorrreri. it is ;; demand for ~t.urn::~t's increased control over their bodies, their reproduct:\ c processes anif their lives in general. Access to any and all reproducti1.e tt.chnoIctgies does riot -marantee reproductive fisedorn for \\omen, and pro-thoice feminists can consistently quesrion the particular reproductive choices women make, without abandoning a respect for their ability to choose. i would like to thank my senior supervisor, Sue Wendell, who always provided me with support, encouragement, and thoughtfuf criticism md who taught me to have confidence in tny work. Tiranks ro my frie~~dsand colleapes at the Everywolnan's Health Centre work embodies the principle of empowering women and who gave me the opportttltity tu pl!t my politics into practice. My thanks to Sman Niirse, iiiend, housemate and soul-supporter, who was always there to fend art ear, an opinion and, when 1 needed it most, a quiet space to work. Thank you to my it~isband,Paul Degelman, for always supporting my goals and dreams and for filliilg rns iik with laurrhter.d and joy. FinalIy, I wot~fdlike to thank my parents, Eunice and Gordon Dohlen, who have always taught me to believe in myself and my ideas. My vision of the fitttlre draws its stren~~lrfrom their love. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: ................................................... 7 DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEBATE: ............................................. 8 FEMllJIST COMMON GROUND: ..................... ..., ........................9 DISCRIMINATORY COSTS AND BENEFITS: ................... 9 RISKS TO WOMEN'S HEALTH AND mLL-BEING: ........ 13 INCREASED MEDICALIZATION & MALE CONTROL OVER REPRODUCTION: ................................. 19 CHAPTER TWO NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND CHOICE: .............c.74 RADICAL, FEMINIST ANALYSES: ............................................ 25 SOCIALIST FEhmST CRITICISMS. ........................................... 32 STRENGTHS & 'WAKNESSES OF SOCIALIST FEMINIST ANALYSES : .................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER THREE THE EXPERIENCE OF INFERTILITY: ............................................. 44 =SEARCH ON THE EXPERIENCE OF INFERTILITY:.............. 45 WERTILITY AS A SOCIAL, PROCESS: ...................................... 47 GENDER DIFFERENCES IN RESPONSE TO INFE'RTILITY: ......49 RESPONSIBILITY:............................................................... 50 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES: ...... 52 ADTXTP CC Curl~uu: ............................................................................... J J EXPLmTGGENDER-SPECIFIC RESPONSES TO INFERTILITY: ................................................................................ 57 REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM - MAKING THE COhfNECTIONS : ............................................................................ 64 FEMIiu'IST ETHf CS AED CONCEPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES: ......... 68 LIMITS OF A 'RIGHT TO CHOOSE' APPROACH TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM: ....................................................... 69 FEMINIST ETHICS & A NEW APPROACH TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM. .......................................................71 FUTURE POLITICAL STRATEGIES: ............................................ 79 CONCLUSION: ............................................................................... 83 FOOTNOTES .......................................................................................... 84 PNTRODUCTI OK: Biological reproduction, that most 'natural' of human activities. is presently the subject of' major technological intervention. Although scientiiic understanding of reproductive processes is still incomplete7it is now possible to apply technulo_g),at every stage - conception, implantation, gestation atxi birth. The development and expansion of these technologies raises serious legal, ethml, social, political and economic questions, and comrne~~tators from a variety of fields, iricluding medicine, science, law, psychology and politics are deliberating over their irilplications. Feminists in each c~fthese areas are also examining the meaning of these technolog:es, and what n~:rkcs their analyses unique is their specific focus on the health and well-being of women. A feminist approach is based on the recognition that it is women, and not men, who are the primary fxus of reproductive medical intervention. Because it is their bodies, rather than their partners', which are exarnincd, probed, poked and manipulated, it is usually women who bear the physical 2nd emotional pain of the new reproductive technologes. More~ver,because it is women who have the primary responsibility for childcare, it is they who will experience the negative familial and social implications of the technologes in the most profound ways. In short, "women have a huge stake in reproduction in general, and in the NRTs [new reproductive tcchologics] specifically ." (NAC, 1990, 12) A feminist approach is also based on ihc recognition that a central underlying issue in the debate over new reproductive technologies is wornerr's reproductive freedom. Infertility techologes, llke abortion md contraception, are part of a continuum of technological developments whch directly aEect how women, whether fertile or mfertile, experience their reproductive capacities. Thus, new reproductive technologies, lrke abortion and conl-raception, have importat implications for the feminist political movement for reproductive freedom. Traditionally, ths movement has been firmly based on the principle of 'a woman's right to choose', and historically, the struggle for women's rights to determine