Abstract
In this paper I examine the prevailing assumption that there is a right to procreate and question whether there exists a coherent notion of such a right. I argue that we should question any and all procreative activities, not just alternative procreative means and contexts. I suggest that clinging to the assumption of a right to procreate prevents serious scrutiny of reproductive behavior and that, instead of continuing to embrace this assumption, attempts should be made to provide a proper foundation for it. I argue that the focus of procreative activities and discourse on reproductive ethics should be on obligations instead of rights, as rights talk tends to obfuscate recognition of obligations toward others, particularly those who bear the most significant burdens of the procreative process. I examine some possible foundations of a right to procreate as well as John Robertson’s thoughtful account of “procreative liberty” but conclude that at the present time there exists no compelling account of a right to procreate. Finally, I conclude that in the absence of a satisfactory account of a right to procreate, we should refrain from grounding practices or polices on the assumption that there is such a right.
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Notes
For example, State of Wisconsin v. David W. Oakley, wherein a condition of Mr. Oakley’s parole was to refrain from further procreation until he had paid his child-support debt. SCOTUS denied certiorari on October 7, 2002. More recently, Justice Marilyn L. O’Connor of the New York Family Court, Monroe County, ordered a woman to refrain from having children, lest she be jailed. See In re Anna E. (2004 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2843).
In response an earlier version of this paper, Grant Gillett brought to my attention an example of this type of scenario. He pointed out that government-mandated use of a certain type of IUD in China has led to a 90% sterility rate among women who were forced to use the IUD.
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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank JBI’s anonymous reviewers and Editor Christopher Jordens for insightful comments and helpful guidance in revising this article. Thank you also to Dale E. Miller for his valuable comments and recommendations on an earlier version of this paper.
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Pearson, Y.E. Storks, Cabbage Patches, and the Right to Procreate. Bioethical Inquiry 4, 105–115 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-007-9047-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-007-9047-4