•  5
    The Assisted Reproduction of Race
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 13 (1): 177-181. 2020.
  •  9
    10 Disempowered Women? The Midwifery Model and Medical Intervention
    In Sarah LaChance Adams & Caroline R. Lundquist (eds.), Coming to Life: Philosophies of Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Mothering, Fordham University Press. pp. 215-238. 2013.
  •  4
    As the field of assisted-reproductive technology progresses, bioethicists continue to debate whether and how the availability of this technology creates new moral duties for parents-to-be. It is rare for these debates to seriously engage with questions related to race and class. Camisha Russell asks us to move race from the margins to the center of our discussions of reproductive ethics. She argues that this shift can work as a kind of corrective that will lead to better theory. In this paper, I…Read more
  •  2
    The Assisted Reproduction of Race by Camisha Russell
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 13 (1): 177-181. 2020.
    In The Assisted Reproduction of Race, Camisha Russell states: "My central aim here is to explore how notions of race and racial identity function within assisted reproductive technologies ". The way she does this may surprise some bioethicists. Moving beyond principles and traditional ethical theories, Russell instead draws on the work of critical race theory and the philosophy of technology. By showing the usefulness of these theories, she encourages bioethicists to expand our theoretical toolb…Read more
  •  7
    This book considers what virtue theory can tell us about parenting in relation to both moral development and specific ethical dilemmas. It is of interest to those who work in virtue theory, applied ethics, and the ethics of parenthood.
  •  12
    In this article, we discuss decision making during labor and delivery, specifically focusing on decision making around offering women a trial of labor after cesarean section. Many have discussed how humans are notoriously bad at assessing risks and how we often distort the nature of various risks surrounding childbirth. We will build on this discussion by showing that physicians make decisions around TOLAC not only based on distortions of risk, but also based on personal values rather than medic…Read more
  •  34
    Childbirth Is Not an Emergency: Informed Consent in Labor and Delivery
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 11 (1): 23-43. 2018.
    Despite the fact that the requirement to obtain informed consent for medical procedures is deeply enshrined in both U.S. moral and legal doctrine, empirical studies and anecdotal accounts show that women's rights to informed consent and refusal of treatment are routinely undermined and ignored during childbirth. For example, citing the most recent Listening to Mothers survey, Marianne Nieuwenhuijze and Lisa Kane Low state that "a significant number of women said they felt pressure from a caregiv…Read more
  •  22
    Attunement and Involvement: How Expert Nurses Support Patient Autonomy
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 10 (1): 175-193. 2017.
    In this essay, I argue that the daily practice of expert nurses goes far toward enacting the kind of patient autonomy feminist bioethicists envision. Nursing theorists often utilize philosophical theories in their work, but bioethicists have not paid much attention to nursing theory and what it means to be an expert nurse. This is unfortunate because expert nurses do much in their daily practice to make the ideals for autonomy put forth by feminist bioethicists a reality. With this in mind, I br…Read more
  •  42
    On the Immorality of Lying to Children About Their Origins
    Philosophy in the Contemporary World 18 (2): 22-33. 2011.
    Using the moral work on trust and lying, I argue that allowing or encouraging children to believe you are their biological parent when you are not is a breach of trust in the parent-child relationship. While other approaches focus on specific harms or the rights of the child, I make a virtue theory argument based on our understanding of trust, lies, and the nature of the parent-child relationship. Drawing heavily on Nancy Potter's virtue theory of trustworthiness, I consider the nature of trust …Read more
  •  24
    Philosophy and Everyday Life (review)
    Teaching Philosophy 26 (2): 196-198. 2003.
  •  180
    In “Autonomy and the Feminist Intuition,” Natalie Stoljar asks whether a procedural or a substantive approach to autonomy is best for addressing feminist concerns. In this paper, I build on Stoljar’s argument that feminists should adopt a strong substantive approach to autonomy. After briefly reviewing the problems with a purely procedural approach, I begin to articulate my own strong substantive theory by focusing specifically on the problem of internalized oppression. In the final section, I b…Read more
  •  15
    The Ethics of Vaginal Birth after Cesarean
    Hastings Center Report 42 (4): 24-27. 2012.
    The decline in providers and facilities that will allow a trial of labor after cesarean forces many women to choose a repeat cesarean. The choice is frequently not much of a choice, however, since the full range of options are often not on the table. This limited “choice” violates obstetricians' obligations both to respect patients' autonomy and to offer them good care. There has been a vigorous but so far not very fruitful debate in the last few years about the lack of access to a trial of labo…Read more
  •  62
    Obstetricians and Violence Against Women
    American Journal of Bioethics 11 (12): 51-56. 2011.
    I argue that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), as an organization and through its individual members, can and should be a far greater ally in the prevention of violence against women. Specifically, I argue that we need to pay attention to obstetrical practices that inadvertently contribute to the problem of violence against women. While intimate partner violence is a complex phenomenon, I focus on the coercive control of women and adherence to oppressive gender nor…Read more