The Politics of Pregnancy

Policy Dilemmas in the Maternal-Fetal Relationship

Janna C. Merrick

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317952794
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Gender & The Law
• Index: Law

Here is a comprehensive overview and analysis of issues concerning the maternal-fetal relationship, from abortion to surrogate motherhood. Unlike many books which cover reproductive issues in general, this book focuses in-depth on one aspect of reproduction--the maternal-fetal relationship--to give readers a detailed study of the many issues involved. The Politics of Pregnancy discusses public policy dimensions of this relationship and posits new, critical political dilemmas. Many chapters in this unique book also provide significant clinical information as well as conceptual analysis. The Politics of Pregnancy offers great diversity in terms of the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors and their ideological perspectives. Authors come from many fields, including sociology, political science, pediatrics, ethics, and psychiatry, and provide diverse, sometimes opposing, analytical positions. Some of the topics they debate include:

• maternal substance use during pregnancy
• prenatal technology
• pregnancy and workplace hazards
• court-ordered obstetrical intervention
• fetal experimentation Readers interested in public and health care policy, nursing, feminism, pediatrics, or ethics, will find The Politics of Pregnancy to be a stimulating and thought-provoking book. This volume also makes an excellent discussion tool for graduate courses in these areas.

Index

Aborted-fetal tissue research, 19, 27

Aborted fetus, medical care for, 59

Abortion

annual number performed in U.S., 26

as child abandonment, 56

fetal therapy and, 10

first-trimester, 132n.

of genetically-diseased fetus, 6

informed consent for, 44–45

in utero experimentation prior to. See In utero experimentation

legal definition of, 33

legality of, prior to Roe v. Wade, 29

minors’ access to, 121

privacy rights in, 33, 42–43, 120–121, 124

privately-funded, physicians’ obligations in, 59

publically-funded, 45

physicians’ obligations in, 58–59

Supreme Court decision on, 51–52

spontaneous

anesthetic gas-related, 154

occupational exposure-related, 138, 145, 146, 165, 166–167

paternal occupational toxicant exposure-related, 145, 146

by prison inmates, 129

rate, 57

viability tests for, 70–71

Abortion patients, autonomy of, during in utero experimentation, 20, 22–24, 28–29

A.C., In re:, 11, 55, 75–78, 120, 121, 132n.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 91

health insurance coverage of, 194

Aderholt, Wyatt v., 56

Adoption

of children of surrogate mothers, 208, 211, 213, 214

monetary exchange in, 207

noncompensated preplanned, 209–210

as option, 57

parental rights/responsibilities and, 204

Adoption of Baby Girl L. J., Matter of, 212

Adoption of Matthew B.-M., In re:, 212, 214

Adoption of Reams, In re:, 213

“Agent Orange”, In re:, 166–167

Alcoholism, genetic markers for, 8

Alcohol use

employers’ restrictions on, 198

paternal, 145

during pregnancy, 89, 91–92, 106

as fetal alcohol syndrome cause, 125

fetal protection policies and, 192, 196

incarceration...