Feminist Approaches To Bioethics: Theoretical Reflections And Practical Applications / Edition 1

by Rosemarie Putnam Tong

Overview

No other cluster of medical issues affects the genders as differently as those related to procreation—contraception, sterilization, abortion, artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and genetic screening. Yet the moral diversity among feminists has led to political fragmentation, foiling efforts to create policies that are likely to serve the interests of the largest possible number of women. In this remarkable book, Rosemarie Tong offers an approach to feminist bioethics that serves as a catalyst, bringing together varied perspectives on choice, control, and connection. Emphasizing the complexity of feminist debates, she guides feminists toward consensus in thought, cooperation in action, and a world that would have no room for domination and subordination. Tong fairly and comprehensively presents the traditions of both feminist and nonfeminist ethics and bioethics. Although feminist approaches to bioethics derive many insights from nonfeminist ethics and bioethics, Tong shows that their primary source of inspiration is feminist ethics, leading feminist bioethicists to ask the so-called woman question in order to raise women’s consciousness about the systems, structures, and relationships that oppress them. Feminist bioethicists are, naturally, committed to acting locally in the worlds of medicine and science. But their different feminist voices must also be raised at the policy table in order to make gender equity a present reality rather than a mere future possibility. Inability to define a plan that guarantees liberation for all women must not prevent feminists from offering a plan that promises to improve the welfare of many women. Otherwise, a perspective less appealing to women may fill the gap.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813319551
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	12/27/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1640L (what's this?)

About the Author

Rosemarie Tong is a Distinguished Professor of Health Care Ethics in the Department of Philosophy and Center for Professional Applied Ethics at the University of North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Prologue — Theoretical Overview — Nonfeminist Approaches to Ethics — Feminist Approaches to Ethics — Nonfeminist Approaches to Bioethics — Feminist Approaches to Bioethics — Practical Applications — Nonfeminist and Feminist Perspectives on Contraception and Sterilization — Nonfeminist and Feminist Perspectives on Abortion — Nonfeminist and Feminist Perspectives on Artificial Insemination and In-Vitro Fertilization — Feminist and Nonfeminist Perspectives on Surrogacy — Feminist and Nonfeminist Perspectives on Genetic Screening, Diagnosis, Counseling, and Therapy — Epilogue