Sherwin starts her look at IVF from a feminist perspective by stating that capitalism, racism, sexism and elitism of the culture today have united to generate a set of outlooks which sees kids as property. Children are valued as privatized commodities, reflecting the virility and heredity of their parents. The argument goes on to say that women are convinced that their most significant purpose in life is to bear and raise children. They are told repetitively that their life is deficient and that they are missing fulfillment if they do not have kids.
According to Sherwin feminist theory helps one of focus on different dimensions of the problem. But with the issue of IVF, it is still difficult to decide whether to encourage, tolerate, modify or restrict reproductive technology. The author states that in her opinion feminist theory is a moral theory that centers on relations among people as well as on individuals. It has as a model an inter-related social fabric that gives primary bonds amid people rather than rights to independence. Because it is a theory that is overtly aware of the social, political and economic associations that exist amid people, it concentrates on the implications of actions or policies on the position of women. This the author feels that it is necessary to ask questions from the perspective of feminist ethics in addition to those whoa re normally asked from the perspective of mainstream ethical theories.
The author admits that feminist ethics will not support a wholly negative outlook towards IVF, for the reason that it does not address the obligation to care for those...
It is the responsibility of those who oppose further implementation of this technology to work toward the changes in the social arrangements that will lead to a reduction of the sense of need for this type of solution.
Sherwin discusses what feminist theory and how it relates to IVF in regards to ethical concerns. She concludes that the advantage of looking at IVF from a feminist perspective is that a feminist analysis explicitly accepts the need for a political component to the understanding of ethical issues. From the point-of-view of feminist ethics, the primary question that has to be looked at is whether IVF and other forms of reproductive technology threaten to reinforce the lack of autonomy which women now have in the present culture.
The author goes on to state that ethics ought not to be evaluated on individual case without also looking at the implications of decisions from a wide perspective. Sherwin feels that a theory of feminist ethics provides that wider perspective, for its different methodology is sensitive to both the personal and social dimensions that surround this issue.
Works Cited
Sherwin, Susan. Feminist Ethics and In Vitro Fertilization. Biomedical Ethics. By Degrazia,
David, Mappes, Thomas A. And Brand-Ballard, Jeffrey. 2010. 7th ed. Columbus:
McGraw-Hill. 2010. 548-552. Print.
Singer, Peter. IVF: The Simple Case. Biomedical Ethics. By Degrazia, David, Mappes,
Thomas A. And Brand-Ballard, Jeffrey. 2010. 7th ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill. 2010.
544-548. Print.
