The Unborn Human

ISBN: 978-1-60785-xxx-x

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.


Debates Over Unborn Personhood

Aksoy, S.
Antenatal screening and its possible meaning from the unborn baby's perspective
Andrews, P., Moore, H. and Smith, A.
Human embryonic stem cells: prospects for human health – a 1 day international symposium held at the University of Sheffield
Barot, S.
Governmental coercion in reproductive decision making: see it both ways
Barry, J.
Medico-Christian Embryology, or the Unborn Child (From the Earliest Period of its Existence)
Blackford, R.
Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life
Childs, S. and Evans, E.
The revived debate on abortion is not simply dog whistle politics, but a threat to women’s rights
Conde, J.
Embryo donation: the government adopts a cause
Davidson, D.
Reflections on doing research grounded in my experience of perinatal loss: from auto/biography to autoethnography
Douglas, T. and Savulescu, J.
Destroying unwanted embryos in research. Talking Point on morality and human embryo research
Ehrich, K., Williams, C. and Farsides, B.
The embryo as moral work object: PGD/IVF staff views and experiences
Ehrich, K., Williams, C. and Farsides, B.
Fresh or frozen? Classifying ‘spare’ embryos for donation to human embryonic stem cell research
Ehrich, K., Williams, C., Farsides, B., Sandall, J. and Scott, R.
Choosing embryos: ethical complexity and relational autonomy in staff accounts of PGD
Ehrich, K., Williams, C., Farsides, B. and Scott, R.
Embryo futures and stem cell research: the management of informed uncertainty
George, R. and Lee, P.
Embryonic human persons. Talking Point on morality and human embryo research
Greely, H.
Moving human embryonic stem cells from legislature to lab: remaining legal and ethical questions
Haimes, E. and Taylor, K.
The contributions of empirical evidence to socio-ethical debates on fresh embryo donation for human embryonic stem cell research
Kelley, M. and Trinidad, S.
Silent loss and the clinical encounter: parents’ and physicians’ experiences of stillbirth – a qualitative analysis
Kreeft, P.
Human personhood begins at conception
Manninen, B.
Revisiting the argument from fetal potential
Manninen, B.
Are human embryos Kantian persons? Kantian considerations in favor of embryonic stem cell research

Memorial video for pregnancy loss

Moscrop, A.
‘Miscarriage or abortion?’ Understanding the medical language of pregnancy loss in Britain; a historical perspective
Murphy, D.
My foetus (review of documentary of this name)
Murphy, S. and Thomas, H.
Stillbirth and loss: family practices and display

Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability

Peck, A.
Personhood advocates continue war on women’s rights despite growing list of defeats
Personhood USA website
Place, F.
Amniocentesis and motherhood: how prenatal testing shapes our cultural understandings of pregnancy and disability
Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality in England, Scotland and Wales
Sagan, A. and Singer, P.
Embryos, stem cells and moral status: a response to George and Lee
Saletan, W.
The healer: how Shinya Yamanaka transformed the stem-cell war and made everyone a winner
Sills, E. and Murphy, S.
Determining the status of non-transferred embryos in Ireland: a conspectus of case law and implications for clinical IVF practice
Stotland, N. Abortion: social context, psychodynamic implications
Takahashi, S., Fujita, M., Fujimoto, A., Fujiwara, T., Yano, T., Tsutsumi, O., Taketani, Y. and Akabayashi, A.
The decision-making process for the fate of frozen embryos by Japanese infertile women: a qualitative study
‘The Miracle of Life’ (excerpt from an anti-abortion film)
The World’s Abortion Laws 2013 website
Theodosiou, A. and Johnson, M.
politics of human embryo research and the motivation to achieve PGD
Tong, W., Low, W., Wong, Y., Choong, S. and Jegasothy, R.
Exploring pregnancy termination experiences and needs among Malaysian women: a qualitative study
Wang, S.
The past, present, and future of embryo selection in in vitro fertilization
Zamberlin, N., Romero, M. and Ramos, S.
Latin American women’s experiences with medical abortion in settings where abortion is legally restricted

Visualising the Unborn

Alexander Tsiaras's TED talk about his visualisations of the unborn

Barniville, H.
The morphology and histology of a human embryo of 8.5 mm

‘In the Womb’ (excerpt from a National Geographic documentary) ‘Lennart Nilsson Photography’ website ‘Making Visible Embryos’ website

Reissland, N., Francis, B., Mason, J. and Lincoln, K.
Do facial expressions develop before birth?
Tansey, E. and Christie, D. (eds)
Looking At the Unborn: Historical Aspects of Obstetric Ultrasound

‘The Miracle of Life Part 1’ (excerpt from Lennart Nilsson's documentary) ‘The Multi Dimensional Human Embryo’ website ‘The Sociology of the Unborn’ Pinterest board ‘The Ultrasound as Cultural Artefact’ Pinterest board ‘The Visible Embryo’ website ‘The Visual MD’ (Alexander Tsiaras’s company) website

Risk and Maternal Responsibility

Bayrampour, H., Heaman, M. Duncan, K. and Tough, S.
Advanced maternal age and risk perception: a qualitative study
Beveridge, E., Anath, H. and Scurlock, H.
What protection for the unborn child of a psychologically vulnerable adult?
Dayan, J., Creveuil, C., Dreyfus, M., Herlicoviez, M., Baleyte, J.-M. and O’Keane, V.
Developmental model of depression applied to prenatal depression: role of past and present life events, post emotional disorders and pregnancy stress

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.



 

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