New reproductive technologies, genetic counselling and the standing of the fetus: views from Germany and Israel

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a comparative study of Israeli and German genetic counsellors' perceptions of the moral standing of the fetus. Data collected through in-depth interviews with counsellors in both countries (N=32) are presented, and their moral practices are analysed. The paper's findings suggest that while German counsellors perceive the fetus as an autonomous being and debate the particular biological stages through which this autonomy is acquired; Israeli counsellors do not consider the moral status of the fetus independently of its relations with its family hence, deploying a 'relational ethics'. It is suggested that these differences are influenced by historical, political, legal, and religious traditions in Germany and Israel regarding abortions and the fetus. It is concluded that the deployment of a 'biological ethics' by German counsellors reproduces the model of fetal developmental stages (in itself a construction), and hence goes hand in hand with perceptions of the fetus as a 'life', and thus as the bearer of autonomous rights which are understood to contradict those of its mother. On the other hand, the rejection of 'biological ethics' by Israeli counsellors enables a perception of fetuses that is first and foremost defined by their relationships with others.

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

“…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]. Furthermore, the resurgence of nationalist and religious "moral regimes" in the context of declining fertility rates and migration have recently fuelled anti-reproductive rights discourses in Europe, potentially affecting abortion attitudes in Germany [5].…”

Choice, Rights, and Virtue: Prenatal Testing and Styles of Moral Reasoning in Aotearoa/New Zealand

“…By studying this bio‐politics, it becomes possible to identify the cosmology behind the discursive framings of moral reasoning. The cosmology around genetic testing in Aotearoa/New Zealand that our research reveals pivots on an aspirational social ideal of the provision of choice to citizens as an appropriate position from which to regulate selective reproductive technologies, as opposed to Ivry's () account of secrecy or Hashiloni‐Dolev and Weiner's () conflicting accounts of fetal selfhood. This is so despite observations from the breadth of our studies that few participants think of choice as the process that they engage in for moral reasoning and despite the press of principalist arguments that suggest it is the provision of informed choice that makes difficult clinical decisions ethical.…”

“…The state's experts can also draw on cosmologies of nation‐statehood to underline the discursive truths of their approaches to moral reasoning. Examples of the different discursive constructions of the most desirable or legitimate moral reasoning around prenatal testing are revealed in Hashiloni‐Dolev and Weiner's () comparative study of German and Israeli genetic counselors and their conflicting, nationalized definitions of fetal selfhood and Ivry's () study of the culturally specific, historically contingent basis for secrecy over prenatal diagnosis in Japan.…”

Overcoming embryonic exceptionalism? Lessons from analyzing human stem cell research regulation in Israel

“…Thus, an implication from the Israeli case is that we may not be able to fruitfully continue to employ embryonic exceptionalism, namely the assumption that debates about the moral status of the embryo structure all discursive space in this field, and that such debates are therefore the first place to turn to when we try to understand and explain different regulatory approaches towards hESC research. Ingrid Metzler (2007) in her study on hESC in Italy, for example, argues that embryos as such do not have any independent meaning at all; they obtain meaning by the way in which they are embedded in discourses on family relations, religious teleologies, or therapeutic expectations (see also Geesink et al 2008, Hashiloni-Dolev and Weiner 2008.…”