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7Imagine No ReligionIn Russell Blackford & Udo Schüklenk (eds.), 50 Voices of Disbelief, Wiley‐blackwell. 2009-09-10.This chapter contains sections titled: Note.
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461The case for physician assisted suicide: how can it possibly be proven?Journal of Medical Ethics 32 (6): 335-338. 2006.In her paper, The case for physician assisted suicide: not proven, Bonnie Steinbock argues that the experience with Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act fails to demonstrate that the benefits of legalising physician assisted suicide outweigh its risks. Given that her verdict is based on a small number of highly controversial cases that will most likely occur under any regime of legally implemented safeguards, she renders it virtually impossible to prove the case for physician assisted suicide. In thi…Read more
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34Appraising Black-Boxed Technology: the Positive ProspectsPhilosophy and Technology 31 (4): 571-591. 2018.One staple of living in our information society is having access to the web. Web-connected devices interpret our queries and retrieve information from the web in response. Today’s web devices even purport to answer our queries directly without requiring us to comb through search results in order to find the information we want. How do we know whether a web device is trustworthy? One way to know is to learn why the device is trustworthy by inspecting its inner workings, 156–170 1995; Humphreys 20…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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386Ethical 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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333Preconception 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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49Sex 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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463Die Freiheit zum Tode: Ein Plädoyer für den ärztlich-assistierten SuizidAufklärung Und Kritik 2 130-135. 2015.
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299Sex 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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161No 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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196The 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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425Sex 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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1119Preconception 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
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376Gender Preferences and Demand for Preconception Sex Selection: A Survey Among Pregnant Women in PakistanHuman Reproduction 22 (2): 605-609. 2007.BACKGROUND: In its recent report 'Human Reproductive Technologies and the Law', the House of Commons' Select Committee on Science and Technology called for greater efforts to establish the potential demographic impact of sex selection across all sectors of UK society. Given the well-known preference for boys over girls among some communities, there is concern that a readily available service for social sex selection may upset the balance of the sexes. Of particular interest are the gender prefer…Read more
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796The Ten Most Common Objections to Sex Selection and Why They Fail To Be ConclusiveReproductive Biomedicine Online 14 (1): 158-161. 2007.After its review of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act of 1990, the Department of Health concluded that the British Parliament ought to outlaw sex selection for any but the most serious of medical reasons. This paper reviews the most frequently expressed objections to social sex selection and concludes that there is simply no moral justification for prohibiting parents from using sex selection technology to balance their families.
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232Should Parents Be Allowed to Use Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis to Choose the Sexual Orientation of Their Children?Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics 18 (7): 1368-1369. 2003.Extending the application of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to screen embryos for non-medical traits such as gender, height and intelligence, raises serious moral, legal, and social issues. In this paper I consider the possibility of using PGD to select the sexual orientation of offspring. After considering ®ve potential objections, I conclude that parents should be permitted to use PGD to choose the sexual orientation of their children.