Reproductive Technologies: Does Choice Mean Freedom? :: essays research papers fc

Reproductive Technologies Does Choice Mean Freedom?"One does not, it superpower be said, increase a individuals bounteousdom simply by change magnitude the sheer quantity of possibilities which he or she can recognize from."n Richard Norman     The issue of reproductive technologies in our society today raises an enkindle question. Do they increase a womens freedom of survival or do theyexpand the power of men and science over women. Is freedom to choose what theycan do with their bodies truly freedom. Freedom, as a core, is the absence ofextraneous impediment. In this sort of atomic number 18a can women truly be free of externalimpediment, excessively is this truly freedom of choice? "The couch of visiblepossibilities from which a person can choose at a abandoned moment has no directrelevance to freedomWhether a person is free or not does not depend on therange of choice." (Haylek 1960, p.12f). This orbit is so favorablely chargedthat a women could not by chance have true freedom of choice save a choice whichis basically decided for her, whether it be by the limited choices made visible(prenominal) to her by medical science or by the men which be directly involvedwith them in the decision.     In order to truly study this issue we must look at its core,reproductive technology. This is a big area to discuss because it ranges fromartificial insemination to abortion to contraception to genetic engine room withmany area in between.     Artificial insemination is the introduction of sperm to an ovumartificially either inside or outside the female genital tract. Abortion is the"extermination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of unaffiliated life."Birth control is a huge area of reproductive or contraceptive technology, ineffect though all sub areas of this principal(prenominal) area deal with the prevention offertilization of the ovum or egg, also in some cases such as the condom it can block the spread of disease. Genetic engineering is a new and extremely scarytechnology which hopes to enable the precise engineering of an unborn child.     The previous examples are just some of the areas of reproductivetechnologies but they are sufficient to teetotum the basic scope of the issue.     What is freedom. In the Websters dictionary the definition is "Thestate of macrocosm free or at liberty rather than in project or under physicalrestraint". This is the core of freedom but to truly understand freedom onemust define it with oftentimes more detail. two people who have concentrated theirefforts on the subject of freedom are Norman and Haylek. Norman feels thatfreedom is equated to the absence of social pressure yet the possession of