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44Religion, Reproduction and Public PolicyReproductive Biomedicine Online 21 834-837. 2010.Many people look to religion to help resolve the serious moral and legal issues associated with assisted reproductive technologies. Doing so presupposes that religion is the cornerstone of ethics, but this assumption is not well founded. While various faiths are entitled to articulate their views on matters of human reproduction, the contradictions involved in doing so make it unwise to rely on religion in the formulation of law and policy. These contradictions – such as the indeterminacy about …Read more
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Imagine No ReligionIn Russell Blackford & Udo Schüklenk (eds.), 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 252-258. 2009.Philosophy of Religion
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77Ethical Arguments For and Against Sperm Sorting for Non-Medical Sex SelectionReproductive Biomedicine Online 26 231-239. 2013.Much has been written about the ethics of sex selection. This article thoroughly explores the ethical arguments put forth in the literature both for and against non-medical sex selection using sperm sorting. While most of these arguments come from philosophers, feminist scholars, social scientists and members of the healthcare community, they are often echoed in empirical studies that have explored community values. This review is timely because the first efficacious method for sex selection via…Read more
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1Sex Selection and Preimplantation Genetic DiagnosisIn Helga Kuhse & Udo Schüklenk (eds.), Bioethics: An Anthology, Blackwell. pp. 141-143. 2015.In its recent statement 'Sex Selection and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis', the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine concluded that preimplantation genetic diagnosis for sex selection for non-medical reasons should be discouraged because it poses a risk of unwarranted gender bias, social harm, and results in the diversion of medical resources from genuine medical need. We critically examine the arguments presented against sex selection using preimplantation geneti…Read more
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64Preconception Sex Selection: A Survey of Visitors to an Internet-Based Health ForumReproductive Biomedicine Online 16 (1): 18-26. 2008.The aim of this survey was to explore the attitudes towards gender selection, focusing on people who were affected by infertility and also familiar with advanced technologies such as the internet. Although this survey is based almost exclusively on answers from women, it seems reasonable to conclude that a widely available service for preconception sex selection for non-medical reasons would not cause a severe gender imbalance in Germany.
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6Sex Selection: Laissez Faire or Family Balancing?Health Care Analysis 13 (1): 87-90. 2005.In a recent comment on the HFEA’s public consultation on sex selection, Soren Holm claimed that proponents of family balancing are committed to embrace a laissez faire approach. Given that arguments in support of sex selection for family balancing also support sex selection for other social reasons, advocates of family balancing, he asserts, are simply inconsistent when calling for a limit on access to sex selection. In this paper, I argue that proponents of family balancing are in no way incons…Read more
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66Die Freiheit zum Tode: Ein Plädoyer für den ärztlich-assistierten SuizidAufklärung Und Kritik 2 130-135. 2015.
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66Sex Preference and Interest in Preconception Sex Selection: A Survey Among Pregnant Women in the North of JordanHuman Reproduction and Genetic Ethics 24 (7): 1665-1669. 2009.BACKGROUND Preconception sex selection for non-medical reasons is a controversial issue in bioethics. Little research has described preferences for preconception sex selection among Arab populations. This study describes the sex preference and interest in employing sex selection techniques among pregnant women in northern Jordan. METHODS A self-reported questionnaire was administered to 600 pregnant women in Irbid, Jordan. χ2 test and binary logistic regression were used to examine the factors a…Read more
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50No Country Is An IslandReproductive Biomedicine Online 11 (1): 10-11. 2005.In its recent report Human Reproductive Technologies and the Law, the House of Commons’ Select Committee on Science and Technology insisted that the United Kingdom ‘does not take a purely insular view’ on sex selection but to carefully consider the impact on other countries before allowing changes to current legislation. True, no country is an island, not even the British Isles. Still, outlawing a harmless practice in Great Britain because of its alleged harmful effects in other countries is bad…Read more
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54The majority of German specialists in reproductive medicine opposes preimplantation sex selection for nonmedical reasons while recommending preimplantation sex selection for medical reasons, e.g. X-linked diseases like haemophilia.
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65Sex Selection: Morality, Harm, and the LawSouthern Medical Journal 100 (1): 105-106. 2007.Given that sex selection does not harm anyone, there is no moral justification for a legal ban.
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62Preconception Sex Selection: Demand and Preferences in the United StatesFertility and Sterility 85 (2): 468-473. 2006.Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons raises important moral, legal, and social issues. The main concern is based upon the assumption that a widely available service for sex selection will lead to a socially disruptive imbalance of the sexes. For a severe sex ratio distortion to occur, however, at least two conditions have to be met. First, there must be a significant preference for children of a particular sex, and second, there must be a considerable interest in employing sex sele…Read more