Reproductive Technologies Does Choice Mean Freedom Essay

Reproductive Technologies: Does Choice Mean Freedom. Essay, Research Paper

Reproductive Technologies: Does Choice Mean Freedom.

By David Kinlough

“One does not, it might be said, increase a person’s freedom simply by

increasing the sheer quantity of possibilities which he or she can choose from.”

n Richard Norman

The issue of reproductive technologies in our society today raises an

interesting question. Do they increase a women’s freedom of choice or do they

expand the power of men and science over women. Is freedom to choose what they

can do with their bodies truly freedom. Freedom, as a core, is the absence of

external impediment. In this sort of area can women truly be free of external

impediment, also is this truly freedom of choice. “The range of physical

possibilities from which a person can choose at a given moment has no direct

relevance to freedom.Whether a person is free or not does not depend on the

range of choice.” (Haylek 1960, p.12f). This subject is so socially charged

that a women could not possibly have true freedom of choice but a choice which

is basically decided for her, whether it be by the limited choices made

available to her by medical science or by the men which are directly involved

with them in the decision.

In order to truly understand this issue we must look at it’s core,

reproductive technology. This is a vast area to discuss because it ranges from

artificial insemination to abortion to contraception to genetic engineering with

many area in between.

Artificial insemination is the introduction of sperm to an ovum

artificially either inside or outside the female genital tract. Abortion is the

“extermination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life.”

Birth control is a huge area of reproductive or contraceptive technology, in

effect though all sub areas of this main area deal with the prevention of

fertilization of the ovum or egg, also in some cases such as the condom it can

stop the spread of disease. Genetic engineering is a new and extremely scary

technology which hopes to enable the precise engineering of an unborn child.

The previous examples are just some of the areas of reproductive

technologies but they are sufficient to cover the basic scope of the issue.

What is freedom. In the Webster’s dictionary the definition is “The

state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical

restraint”. This is the core of freedom but to truly understand freedom one

must define it with much more detail. two people who have concentrated their

efforts on the subject of freedom are Norman and Haylek. Norman feels that

freedom is equated to the absence of social pressure yet the possession of

social and political power and wealth. Haylek’s version is much simpler, he

believes that freedom is “The absence of external impediment” (Haylek 1960, p17).

Unfortunately Haylek is to general in his claims for this subject so Norman’s

definition will be our focus.

Is it truly freedom of choice when a the decision is morally effected.

No it is not, as Norman said, freedom is the absence of social pressure. One

can read a newspaper everyday and see an article discussing a mob of pro-life

activists barricading an abortion clinic or reading an editorial surrounding the

moral dilemma of genetic engineering, in fact this subject is one of the most

socially charged. With so many groups hammering their ideals at you, a truly

“free” choice cannot be made.

Almost the only area of reproductive technologies which could be seen as

a freedom to women is the area of artificial insemination. In this choice there

is no real moral issue, it is the creation of life therefore society condones it,

and her decision will not be influenced by social pressure. In fact this area

can help a women give birth to a child who previously could not, and out of all

the decisions in the area of reproductive technologies it is the one least

influenced by men. A man can wish his “wife” would have a child but if she is

unable to naturally conceive, it is her decision to be impregnated using this

technology. In other words this area of reproductive technologies is the most

socially neutral, the influence of a man in her life (if any) can be a strong

one and therefore can effect the freedom the women can exercise in this choice.

Abortion is not a freedom to women when applying Norman’s version of

freedom. It is the most socially fueled area of this technology and it is the

most shunned. If a women becomes pregnant and wishes to have it aborted, it

usually means that the pregnancy was not planned, and society usually blames the

women because in the mind of most people it is her responsibility alone. This is

the most ignorant of social beliefs but unfortunately it is one of the most

prevalent ones, thankfully this is changing bu

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать