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A Life (Un)Worthy of LivingThe Conflicts Between Individuals, Families and Society, as Well as Between Different Family Members, Embodied in Reproductive Genetics

A Life (Un)Worthy of Living: The Conflicts Between Individuals, Families and Society, as Well as... CHAPTER 8 THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND SOCIETY, AS WELL AS BETWEEN DIFFERENT FAMILY MEMBERS, EMBODIED IN REPRODUCTIVE GENETICS The question of the conflict between the interests of individuals and the supposed interests of society embodied in reproductive genetics, which is as old as the eugenic movement itself, can be formulated in many ways: does the public have a legitimate interest in individuals’ reproductive choices? Or alternatively, should parents have complete autonomy regarding their reproductive decisions? And if so, how should society treat individual decisions that are costly to it? Furthermore, are there only two parties involved in this conflict (parents and society) or do unborn fetuses have their own rights, and if so, who represents them? Concerning this conflict between parents-fetus, parents-society and fetus-society, Heyd (1995) writes that the liberal ethos typically gives priority to the parents’ rights, since they are actual rather than potential human beings and since they are identifiable individuals, rather than vaguely defined collective entities. However, the supposed interests of society challenge this priority, in the name of the individual (liberal) rights of the fetus and in the name of allegedly weightier social interests. But what does “weightier social interests” mean? Answering this http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Life (Un)Worthy of LivingThe Conflicts Between Individuals, Families and Society, as Well as Between Different Family Members, Embodied in Reproductive Genetics

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Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Copyright
© Springer 2007
ISBN
978-1-4020-5217-0
Pages
131 –146
DOI
10.1007/1-4020-5218-9_8
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

CHAPTER 8 THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND SOCIETY, AS WELL AS BETWEEN DIFFERENT FAMILY MEMBERS, EMBODIED IN REPRODUCTIVE GENETICS The question of the conflict between the interests of individuals and the supposed interests of society embodied in reproductive genetics, which is as old as the eugenic movement itself, can be formulated in many ways: does the public have a legitimate interest in individuals’ reproductive choices? Or alternatively, should parents have complete autonomy regarding their reproductive decisions? And if so, how should society treat individual decisions that are costly to it? Furthermore, are there only two parties involved in this conflict (parents and society) or do unborn fetuses have their own rights, and if so, who represents them? Concerning this conflict between parents-fetus, parents-society and fetus-society, Heyd (1995) writes that the liberal ethos typically gives priority to the parents’ rights, since they are actual rather than potential human beings and since they are identifiable individuals, rather than vaguely defined collective entities. However, the supposed interests of society challenge this priority, in the name of the individual (liberal) rights of the fetus and in the name of allegedly weightier social interests. But what does “weightier social interests” mean? Answering this

Published: Jan 1, 2007

Keywords: Disable Child; Sibling Donor; Future Child; Israeli Society; Selective Abortion

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