The Unborn Human
edited by Deborah Lupton
Introduction: Conceptualising and Configuring the Unborn Human
FIRST PARAGRAPH(more)
Unborn human organisms – embryos and foetuses -- receive an unprecedented level of prominence in the contemporary era. There have long been debates about the moral status of the unborn and their claims to personhood and to be treated as full human subjects, particularly in relation to religious philosophy, bioethics and abortion politics. Over the past half-century, however, these debates have become more diversified, intense and complex in response to a number of social, technological and economic changes. More so than at any other time in human history, embryos and foetuses are represented in public forums as beautiful, precious, vulnerable creatures that require the utmost levels of protection. They are commonly represented as already fully human, indeed as already infants, and deserving of the rights and privileges accorded the infant.
BOOK CONTENT
DEBATES OVER UNBORN PERSONHOOD Aksoy, S. (2001) Antenatal screening and its possible meaning from unborn baby’s perspective. BMC Medical Ethics, 2(3). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/2/3 Licence: © 2001 S. Aksoy. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article’s original URL.
Amit, M. and Itskovitz-Eldor, J. (2002) Derivation and spontaneous differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Journal of Anatomy, 200(3), 225—32. Link to the Wiley Online Library: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1469-7580.2002.00032.x/full
Andrews, P., Moore, H. and Smith, A. (2002) Human embryonic stem cells: prospects for human health – a 1 day international symposium held at the University of Sheffield. Journal of Anatomy, 200(3), 221—3. Link to the Wiley Online Library: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1469-7580.2002.00027.x/full
Barot, S. (2012) Governmental coercion in reproductive decision making: see it both ways. Guttmacher Policy Review, 15(4). Link to Guttmacher Policy Review journal online: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/15/4/gpr150407.html
Barry, J. (1846) Medico-Christian Embryology, or the Unborn Child (From the Earliest Period of its Existence). Louisville: printed for the author. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://collections.nlm.nih.gov/muradora/objectView.action?pid=nlm:nlmuid-101161766-bk
Blackford, R. (2006) Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life. Journal of Medical Ethics, 32(3), 177—80. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564478/
Childs, S. and Evans, E. (2012) The revived debate on abortion is not simply dog whistle politics, but a threat to women’s rights. British Politics and Policy at LSE website. Link to the British Politics and Policy at LSE website: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/27716
Conde, J. (2006) Embryo donation: the government adopts a cause. William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, 13(1), 273—303. Link to the William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law online: http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmjowl/vol13/iss1/7
Davidson, D. (2011) Reflections on doing research grounded in my experience of perinatal loss: from auto/biography to autoethnography. Sociological Research Online, 16(6). Link to the Sociological Research Online website: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/16/1/6.html
Douglas, T. and Savulescu, J. (2009) Destroying unwanted embryos in research. Talking Point on morality and human embryo research. EBMO Reports, 10(4), 307—12. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672894/
Ehrich, K., Williams, C. and Farsides, B. (2008) The embryo as moral work object: PGD/IVF staff views and experiences. Sociology of Health & Illness, 30(5), 772—87. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2592482
Ehrich, K., Williams, C. and Farsides, B. (2010) Fresh or frozen? Classifying ‘spare’ embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research. Social Science & Medicine, 71(126), 2204—11. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003156/
Ehrich, K., Williams, C., Farsides, B., Sandall, J. and Scott, R. (2007) Choosing embryos: ethical complexity and relational autonomy in staff accounts of PGD. Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(7), 1091—106. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440558/
Ehrich, K., Williams, C., Farsides, B. and Scott, R. (2012) Embryo futures and stem cell research: the management of informed uncertainty. Sociology of Health & Illness, 34(1), 114—29. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3378712/
George, R. and Lee, P. (2009) Embryonic human persons. Talking Point on morality and human embryo research. EMBO Reports, 10(4), 301—6. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672893
Greely, H. (2006) Moving human embryonic stem cells from legislature to lab: remaining legal and ethical questions. PLoS Medicine, 3(5), e143. http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030143 Licence: © 2006 H. Greeley. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Haimes, E. and Taylor, K. (2011) The contributions of empirical evidence to socio-ethical debates on fresh embryo donation for human embryonic stem cell research. Bioethics, 25(6), 334—41. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3130929
Kelley, M. and Trinidad, S. (2012) Silent loss and the clinical encounter: parents’ and physicians’ experiences of stillbirth – a qualitative analysis. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 12(137). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/12/137 Licence: © 2012 M. Kelley and S. Trinidad. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Kreeft, P. (1997) Human personhood begins at conception. Catholic Education Resource Center website. Link to the Catholic Education Resource Center website: http://catholiceducation.org/articles/abortion/ab0004.html
Manninen, B. (2007) Revisiting the argument from fetal potential. Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, 2(7). http://www.peh-med.com/content/2/1/7 Licence: © 2007 B. Manninen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Manninen, B. (2008) Are human embryos Kantian persons? Kantian considerations in favor of embryonic stem cell research. Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, 3(4). http://www.peh-med.com/content/3/1/4 Licence: © 2008 B. Manninen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Memorial video for pregnancy loss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MGndijGHg4&feature=related
Moscrop, A. (2013) ‘Miscarriage or abortion?’ Understanding the medical language of pregnancy loss in Britain; a historical perspective. Medical Humanities, http://mh.bmj.com/content/early/2013/02/20/medhum-2012-010284.full Licence: © 2013 A. Moscrop. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license.
Murphy, D. (2004) My foetus (review of documentary of this name). British Medical Journal, 328(7446). Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC404517
Murphy, S. and Thomas, H. (2013) Stillbirth and loss: family practices and display. Sociological Research Online, 18(1). Link to the Sociological Research Online website: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/18/1/16.html
Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability Link to UK Parliament Inquiry website: http://www.abortionanddisability.org/index.html
Peck, A. (2013) Personhood advocates continue war on women’s rights despite growing list of defeats. ThinkProgress Health website. Link to the ThinkProgress Health website: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/12/1576881/personhood-map/?mobile=nc
Personhood USA website: http://www.personhoodusa.com/
Place, F. (2008) Amniocentesis and motherhood: how prenatal testing shapes our cultural understandings of pregnancy and disability. M/C Journal, 11(3). http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/53 Licence: © 2008 F. Place. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – Noncommercial – No Derivatives 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (2010) Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales. Report of a Working Party. RCOG website. Link to the RCOG website: http://www.rcog.org.uk/termination-pregnancy-fetal-abnormality-england-scotland-and-wales
Sagan, A. and Singer, P. (2009) Embryos, stem cells and moral status: a response to George and Lee. EMBO Reports, 10(12), 1283. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2799205/
Saletan, W. (2012) The healer: how Shinya Yamanaka transformed the stem-cell war and made everyone a winner. Slate website. Link to the Slate website: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2012/10/shinya_yamanaka_s_nobel_prize_he_saved_embryos_not_just_stem_cell_research_.html
Sills, E. and Murphy, S. (2009) Determining the status of non-transferred embryos in Ireland: a conspectus of case law and implications for clinical IVF practice. Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, 4(8). http://www.peh-med.com/content/4/1/8 Licence: © 2009 E. Sills and S. Murphy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Stotland, N. (1998) Abortion: social context, psychodynamic implications. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 155(7), 964—7. Link to Psychiatry Online: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=172914
Takahashi, S., Fujita, M., Fujimoto, A., Fujiwara, T., Yano, T., Tsutsumi, O., Taketani, Y. and Akabayashi, A. (2012) The decision-making process for the fate of frozen embryos by Japanese infertile women: a qualitative study. BMC Medical Ethics, 13(9). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/13/9 Licence: © 2012 S. Takahashi et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
‘The Miracle of Life’ (excerpt from an anti-abortion film): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJIKe9eJLh4&feature=related
The World’s Abortion Laws 2013 website: http://worldabortionlaws.com/map/
Theodosiou, A. and Johnson, M. (2011) The politics of human embryo research and the motivation to achieve PGD. Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 22(5), 457—71. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3101706/
Tong, W., Low, W., Wong, Y., Choong, S. and Jegasothy, R. (2012) Exploring pregnancy termination experiences and needs among Malaysian women: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health, 12, 743. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/743 Licence: © 2012. W. Tong et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Wang, S. (2011) The past, present, and future of embryo selection in in vitro fertilization. Yale Journal of Biological Medicine, 84(4), 487—90. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3238312
Zamberlin, N., Romero, M. and Ramos, S. (2012) Latin American women’s experiences with medical abortion in settings where abortion is legally restricted. Reproductive Health, 9(34). http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/9/1/34 Licence: © 2012 N. Zamberlin et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
VISUALISING THE UNBORN
Alexander Tsiaras's TED talk about his visualisations of the unborn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKyljukBE70
Barniville, H. (1914) The morphology and histology of a human embryo of 8.5 mm. Journal of Anatomy, 49(Pt 1), 1—71. Link to Journal of Anatomy website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1288991/ ‘In the Womb’ (excerpt from a National Geographic documentary): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi-TLTQemNU&feature=related
‘Lennart Nilsson Photography’ website: http://www.lennartnilsson.com/child_is_born.html
‘Making Visible Embryos’ website: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/visibleembryos
Reissland, N., Francis, B., Mason, J. and Lincoln, K. (2011) Do facial expressions develop before birth? PLoS One, 6(8). http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024081 Licence: © 2011 N. Reissland et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Tansey, E. and Christie, D. (eds) (2000) Looking At the Unborn: Historical Aspects of Obstetric Ultrasound. Wellcome Witness to Twentieth Century Medicine: Vol. 5. London: Wellcome Trust. Link to UCL Discovery: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/2075
‘The Miracle of Life’ (excerpt from Lennart Nilsson's documentary): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR75Y3G8PHA&playnext=1&list=PLC2A3CE4928E3617F&feature=results_main
‘The Multi Dimensional Human Embryo’ website: http://embryo.soad.umich.edu/
‘The Sociology of the Unborn’ Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/dalupton/sociology-of-the-unborn
‘The Ultrasound as Cultural Artefact’ Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/dalupton/the-ultrasound-as-cultural-artefact
‘The Visible Embryo’ website: http://www.visembryo.com  ‘The Visual MD’ (Alexander Tsiaras’s company) website: http://www.anatomicaltravel.com/
RISK AND MATERNAL RESPONSIBILITY Bayrampour, H., Heaman, M. Duncan, K. and Tough, S. (2012) Advanced maternal age and risk perception: a qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 12 (100). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/12/100 Licence: © 2012 H. Bayrampour et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Beveridge, E., Anath, H. and Scurlock, H. (2003) What protection for the unborn child of a psychologically vulnerable adult? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 96(2), 92—3. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539404
Dayan, J., Creveuil, C., Dreyfus, M., Herlicoviez, M., Baleyte, J.-M. and O’Keane, V. (2010) Developmental model of depression applied to prenatal depression: role of past and present life events, post emotional disorders and pregnancy stress. PLoS ONE, 5(9), e12942. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0012942 Licence: © 2010 J. Dayan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Helme, T.A. (1907) An address on the unborn child: its care and rights. British Medical Journal, 2(2434), 421—5. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2358178
Lowe, P., Lee, E. and Yardley, L. (2010) Under the influence? The construction of foetal alcohol syndrome in UK newspapers. Sociological Research Online, 15(4). Link to the Sociological Research Online website: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/15/4/2.html
Maas, A., Vreeswijk, C., de Cock, E., Rijk, C. and van Bakel, H. (2012) 'Expectant parents': study protocol of a longitudinal study concerning prenatal (risk) factors and postnatal infant development, parenting, and parent-infant relationships. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 12(46). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/12/46 Licence: © 2012 A. Maas et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author is properly cited.
McDonald, K., Amir, L. and Davey, M-A. (2011) Maternal bodies and medicines: a commentary on risk and decision-making of pregnant and breastfeeding women and health professionals. BMC Public Health, 11(Suppl 5). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/S5/S5 Licence: © 2011 K. McDonald et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Machado, J., Filho, P., Petersen, G. and Chatkin, J. (2011) Quantitative effects of tobacco smoking exposure on the maternal-fetal circulation. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 11(24). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/11/24 Licence: © 2011 J. Machado et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author is properly cited.
Monie, I. (1963) Influence of the environment on the unborn. Western Journal of Medicine, 99(5), 323—27. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1515272/
Ratnapalan, S., Bentur, Y. and Koren, G. (2008) Doctor, will that x-ray harm my unborn child? Canadian Medical Association Journal, 179(12), 1293—6. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585137
Rhetta, B. (1915) A plea for the lives of the unborn. Journal of the National Medical Association, 7(3), 200—5. Link to the US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622137
Saastad, E., Winje, B., Pedersen, B. Stray and Froen, J. Frederick (2011) Fetal movement counting improved identification of fetal growth restriction and perinatal outcomes – a multi-centre, randomized, control trial. PLoS One, 6(12). http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0028482 Licence: © 2011 E. Saastad et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Spong, C. (2006) Protection against prenatal alcohol-induced damage. PLoS Medicine, 3(4). http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030196 Licence: © 2006 C. Spong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
Viaux-Savalen, S. et al. (2012) Prenatal ultrasound screening: false positive soft markers may alter maternal representations and mother-infant interaction. PLoS One, 7(1). http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0030935 Licence: © 2011 S. Viaux-Savelen et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Westfall, R. and Benoit, C. (2008) Interpreting compliance and resistance to medical dominance in women’s accounts of their pregnancies. Sociological Research Online, 13(3). Link to the Sociological Research Online website: http://www.socresonline.org.uk/13/3/4.html
Yazdani, S., Yosofniyapasha, Y., Nasab, B. Hassan, Mojaveri, M. Hagshenas, and Bouzari, Z. (2012) Effect of maternal body mass index on pregnancy outcome and newborn weight. BMC Research Notes, 5(34). http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/5/34 Licence: © 2012 S. Yazdani et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
BRINGING THE MATERNAL BODY BACK IN
Bosanquet, A. (2010) An image carnal and divine: angels playing with placentas. Outskirts, 22. Link to the Outskirts journal online: http://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-22/bosanquet
Riggs, D. and Due, C. (2010) Gay men, race privilege and surrogacy in India. Outskirts, 22. Link to the Outskirts journal online: http://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-22/riggs.
Souza, J., Oliveira-Neto, A., Surita, F. Garanhani, Cecatti, J., Amaral, E. and e Silva, J. Pinto (2006) The prolongation of somatic support in a pregnant woman with brain-death: a case report. Reproductive Health, 3(3). http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/3/1/3 Licence: © 2006 J. Souza et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.