Contested change: how Germany came to allow PGD

Wülfingen, Bettina Bock von

doi:10.1016/j.rbms.2016.11.002

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…Negative abortion attitudes have also increased in the Western German population, which has experienced relatively small changes in abortion legislation after reunification. However, controversial societal debates surrounding the ethics of later abortion and preimplantation genetic diagnosis with regard to the status of the foetus have emerged during the study period [38,48]. It has been argued that the increasing emphasis on foetal "patienthood" as well as portrayal of reproduction as a largely controllable behavior in public health debates reinforce the stigma attached to abortions [5,49,50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Change in Attitudes Towards Abortion in Former West and East Germany After Reunification: A Latent Class Analysis and Implications for Abortion Access

Hanschmidt

Kaiser

Stepan

et al. 2020

Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd

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Introduction The legal status of abortion has changed in the regions of former East Germany after reunification due to the adoption of restrictive West German abortion policies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on attitudes towards abortion and the associated health care implications in Western and Eastern Germany. Materials and Methods Nationally representative data on public support for legally restricting abortion access were taken from the German General Social Survey and included the surveys 1992, 1996, 2000, 2006 and 2012 (N = 14 459). Two indicators of barriers to access to abortion care were calculated for each federal state, based on the number of abortion facilities and the proportion of women seeking abortion outside their state of residency. Data were analysed using latent class analysis. Results Results suggested that abortion attitudes could be classified into three distinct subgroups: 1) support for abortion access independent of womenʼs reason; 2) support on the basis of maternal or foetal health reasons but not for socio-economic reasons (e.g. financial restrictions); and 3) no support. The size of subgroups in favour of partial or complete restriction on abortion access increased in both regions over the study period and this trend could not be explained by changes in socio-demographic characteristics. Respondents living in a federal state with more barriers to access to abortion care were more likely to hold restrictive abortion attitudes. Conclusion Negative attitudes towards abortion have increased in Western and Eastern Germany during the two decades following reunification and may harm women by limiting acceptability and accessibility of abortion care. Abortion policies, public discourse and provision of abortion care should be informed by international guidelines protecting womenʼs health and rights.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Change in Attitudes Towards Abortion in Former West and East Germany After Reunification: A Latent Class Analysis and Implications for Abortion Access

Hanschmidt

Kaiser

Stepan

et al. 2020

Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd

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“…Others hope for future treatments, opt for adoption, or decide against having (more) children [165]. Furthermore, not all testing options are available everywhere: for example, in several European countries PGT is strictly regulated and only available for specific illnesses, and often the testing is not publicly funded [169].…”

Section: Ethical Concerns General Remarks On the Ethics Of Reproducti...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive options for families at risk of Osteogenesis Imperfecta: a review

Zhytnik

Simm

Salumets

et al. 2020

Orphanet J Rare Dis

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Background Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disorder involving bone fragility. OI patients typically suffer from numerous fractures, skeletal deformities, shortness of stature and hearing loss. The disorder is characterised by genetic and clinical heterogeneity. Pathogenic variants in more than 20 different genes can lead to OI, and phenotypes can range from mild to lethal forms. As a genetic disorder which undoubtedly affects quality of life, OI significantly alters the reproductive confidence of families at risk. The current review describes a selection of the latest reproductive approaches which may be suitable for prospective parents faced with a risk of OI. The aim of the review is to alleviate suffering in relation to family planning around OI, by enabling prospective parents to make informed and independent decisions. Main body The current review provides a comprehensive overview of possible reproductive options for people with OI and for unaffected carriers of OI pathogenic genetic variants. The review considers reproductive options across all phases of family planning, including pre-pregnancy, fertilisation, pregnancy, and post-pregnancy. Special attention is given to the more modern techniques of assisted reproduction, such as preconception carrier screening, preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic diseases and non-invasive prenatal testing. The review outlines the methodologies of the different reproductive approaches available to OI families and highlights their advantages and disadvantages. These are presented as a decision tree, which takes into account the autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive nature of the OI variants, and the OI-related risks of people without OI. The complex process of decision-making around OI reproductive options is also discussed from an ethical perspective. Conclusion The rapid development of molecular techniques has led to the availability of a wide variety of reproductive options for prospective parents faced with a risk of OI. However, such options may raise ethical concerns in terms of methodologies, choice management and good clinical practice in reproductive care, which are yet to be fully addressed.

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“…This compromise accepted the arguments repeatedly made by PGD advocates that respect for human dignity does not require bringing defective or fatally ill newborns into the world or in effect “forcing” women to undergo abortions. In so doing, the amendment also rescripted the status of the embryo, no longer treating this “proto-child” as bare life on its own but as life put into a relationship of care with its intended parents, who were also deemed to need the helping hands of science and the state (Bock von Wülfingen 2016). What matters here in terms of basic bioconstitutional settlements is not that one long-debated embryonic ontology was favored over another.…”

Section: Contestations and Reaffirmationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Borderlands of Life: IVF Embryos and the Law in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany

Jasanoff

Metzler

2018

Science, Technology, & Human Values

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Human embryos produced in labs since the 1970s have generated layers of uncertainty for law and policy: ontological, moral, and administrative. Ontologically, these lab-made entities fall into a gray zone between life and not-yet-life. Should in vitro embryos be treated as inanimate matter, like abandoned postsurgical tissue, or as private property? Morally, should they exist largely outside of state control in the zone of free reproductive choice or should they be regarded as autonomous human lives and thus entitled to constitutional protection like full-fledged citizens? Administratively, if they deserve protection, what institutional and policy mechanisms are best suited to carrying out the necessary oversight? Using a method termed comparative problematization, this article traces divergent answers to these questions produced in three countries—the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany—across the last twenty-five years. Comparison reveals distinct bioconstitutional foundations that give rise to systematically different understandings of each state’s responsibilities toward human life and hence its particular treatment of claims on behalf of embryonic lives.

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Contested change: how Germany came to allow PGD

Cited by 14 publications

References 17 publications

The Change in Attitudes Towards Abortion in Former West and East Germany After Reunification: A Latent Class Analysis and Implications for Abortion Access

The Change in Attitudes Towards Abortion in Former West and East Germany After Reunification: A Latent Class Analysis and Implications for Abortion Access

Reproductive options for families at risk of Osteogenesis Imperfecta: a review

Borderlands of Life: IVF Embryos and the Law in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany

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