Navigating conflicts of reproductive rights: Unbundling parenthood and balancing competing interests.

Advances in assisted reproductive technologies can give rise to several ethical challenges. One of these challenges occurs when the reproductive desires of two individuals become incompatible and conflict. To address such conflicts, it is important to unbundle different aspects of (non)parenthood and to recognize the corresponding reproductive rights. This article starts on the premise that the six reproductive rights-the right (not) to be a gestational, genetic, and social parent-are negative rights that do not entail a right to assistance. Since terminating or continuing a pregnancy is a form of assistance, the right (not) to be a gestational parent should enjoy primacy in conflicts. However, while refusing assistance may hinder the reproductive project of another person, "prior assistance" does not entitle someone to violate a reproductive right. Therefore, our analysis provides reasons to argue that someone has a right to unilaterally use cryopreserved embryos or continue the development of an entity in an extracorporeal gestative environment (i.e., ectogestation). Although this could lead to a violation of the right not to be a genetic parent, it does not necessarily entail a violation of the right not to be a social parent.

The harm threshold and Mill's harm principle.

The Harm Threshold (HT) holds that the state may interfere in medical decisions parents make on their children's behalf only when those decisions are likely to cause serious harm to the child. Such a high bar for intervention seems incompatible with both parental obligations and the state's role in protecting children's well-being. In this paper, I assess the theoretical underpinnings for the HT, focusing on John Stuart Mill's Harm Principle as its most plausible conceptual foundation. I offer (i) a novel, text-based argument showing that Mill's Harm Principle does not give justificatory force to the HT; and (ii) a positive account of some considerations which, beyond significant harm, would comprise an intervention principle normatively grounded in Mill's ethical theory. I find that substantive recommendations derived from Mill's socio-political texts are less laissez-faire than they have been interpreted by HT proponents. Justification for state intervention owes not to the severity of a harm, but to whether that harm arises from the failure to satisfy one's duty. Thus, a pediatric intervention principle derived from Mill ought not to be oriented around the degree of harm caused by a parent's healthcare decision, but rather, the kind of harm-specifically, whether the harm arises from violation of parental obligation. These findings challenge the interpretation of Mill adopted by HT proponents, eliminating a critical source of justification for a protected domain of parental liberty and reorienting the debate to focus on parental duties.

The Duty to Protect, Abortion, and Organ Donation.

Some people oppose abortion on the grounds that fetuses have full moral status and thus a right to not be killed. We argue that special obligations that hold between mother and fetus also hold between parents and their children. We argue that if these special obligations necessitate the sacrifice of bodily autonomy in the case of abortion, then they also necessitate the sacrifice of bodily autonomy in the case of organ donation. If we accept the argument that it is obligatory to override a woman's bodily autonomy for the sake of an unborn child's survival, we must continue to override the bodily autonomy of parents to ensure the survival of their living children, until the parent no longer has a special obligation to their child to the same degree as their special obligation to the fetus. And if the life of a child is truly more important than the bodily autonomy of its parents, as must be the case to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, this should remain true until such a time that their children are no longer considered their responsibility. Thus, parity of reasoning suggests that policies compelling the gestation of a fetus should be accompanied by policies compelling organ donation.

Professional fulfillment and parenting work-life balance in female physicians in Basic Sciences and medical research: a nationwide cross-sectional survey of all 80 medical schools in Japan.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, the field of Basic Sciences encompasses clinical, academic, and translational research, as well as the teaching of medical sciences, with both an MD and PhD typically required. In this study, it was hypothesized that the characteristics of a Basic Sciences career path could offer the professional advancement and personal fulfillment that many female medical doctors would find advantageous. Moreover, encouraging interest in Basic Sciences could help stem shortages that Japan is experiencing in medical fields, as noted in the three principal contributing factors: premature resignation of female clinicians, an imbalance of female physicians engaged in research, and a shortage of medical doctors in the Basic Sciences. This study examines the professional and personal fulfillment expressed by Japanese female medical doctors who hold positions in Basic Sciences. Topics include career advancement, interest in medical research, and greater flexibility for parenting. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was distributed at all 80 medical schools in Japan, directed to 228 female medical doctors whose academic rank was assistant professor or higher in departments of Basic Sciences in 2012. Chi-square tests and the binary logistic regression model were used to investigate the impact of parenthood on career satisfaction, academic rank, salary, etc. RESULTS: The survey response rate of female physicians in Basic Sciences was 54.0%. Regardless of parental status, one in three respondents cited research interest as their rationale for entering Basic Sciences, well over twice other motivations. A majority had clinical experience, with clinical duties maintained part-time by about half of respondents and particularly parents. Only one third expressed afterthoughts about relinquishing full-time clinical practice, with physicians who were parents expressing stronger regrets. Parental status had little effect on academic rank and income within the Basic Sciences, CONCLUSION: Scientific curiosity and a desire to improve community health are hallmarks of those choosing a challenging career in medicine. Therefore, it is unsurprising that interest in research is the primary motivation for a female medical doctor to choose a career in Basic Sciences. Additionally, as with many young professionals with families, female doctors seek balance in professional and private lives. Although many expressed afterthoughts relinquishing a full-time clinical practice, mothers generally benefited from greater job flexibility, with little significant effect on career development and income as Basic Scientists.

A criança e seus pais: alguns interrogantes sobre as funções parentais na atualidade / Some questions about the parental functions in current days / L’enfant, ses parents et quelques interrogations sur les fonctions parentales dans l’actualité

Os autores pretendem discutir neste artigo as possíveis mudanças ocorridas na operação das funções materna e paterna pelas modificações nas configurações familiares atuais e suas possíveis implicações nos processos de constituição subjetiva. Para alcançar este objetivo, iniciam por um breve apanhado a respeito dos caminhos dessa constituição, a partir de autores lacanianos. Posteriormente questionam, à luz da teoria da constituição do sujeito, os possíveis efeitos ocorridos pelas transformações dos papeis exercidos tradicionalmente pela mãe e pelo pai. A concepção da infância é considerada a partir dos efeitos constitutivos do exercício parental na atualidade(AU)

The authors intend to discuss in this article the possible changes in the operation of the maternal and paternal functions by the current changes in family structures and their possible implications in the processes of subjective constitution. To accomplish this goal, they begin by a brief overview about the paths of this constitution, from Lacanian authors. Subsequently they question, in light of the theory of the constitution of the subject, the possible effects brought up by the transformations occurring in the roles traditionally exercised by the mother and father. The conception of childhood is considered from the constitutive effects of exercise parental nowadays(AU)

Les auteurs ont l'intention de discuter dans cet article les changements éventuels dans le fonctionnement des fonctions maternelle et paternelle par les changements actuels dans les structures familiales et leurs implications possibles dans les processus de constitution subjective. Pour ce faire, ils commencent par un bref aperçu sur les moyens de cette constitution, par des auteurs lacaniens. Par la suite remis en question, à la lumière de la théorie de la constitution du sujet, les effets possibles des transformations qui se sont produites dans les rôles traditionnellement exercés par la mère et le père. La conception de l'enfance est considérée depuis les effets constitutifs de l'exercice parental d'aujourd'hui(AU)

A criança e seus pais: alguns interrogantes sobre as funções parentais na atualidade / Some questions about the parental functions in current days / L’enfant, ses parents et quelques interrogations sur les fonctions parentales dans l’actualité

Os autores pretendem discutir neste artigo as possíveis mudanças ocorridas na operação das funções materna e paterna pelas modificações nas configurações familiares atuais e suas possíveis implicações nos processos de constituição subjetiva. Para alcançar este objetivo, iniciam por um breve apanhado a respeito dos caminhos dessa constituição, a partir de autores lacanianos. Posteriormente questionam, à luz da teoria da constituição do sujeito, os possíveis efeitos ocorridos pelas transformações dos papeis exercidos tradicionalmente pela mãe e pelo pai. A concepção da infância é considerada a partir dos efeitos constitutivos do exercício parental na atualidade.

The authors intend to discuss in this article the possible changes in the operation of the maternal and paternal functions by the current changes in family structures and their possible implications in the processes of subjective constitution. To accomplish this goal, they begin by a brief overview about the paths of this constitution, from Lacanian authors. Subsequently they question, in light of the theory of the constitution of the subject, the possible effects brought up by the transformations occurring in the roles traditionally exercised by the mother and father. The conception of childhood is considered from the constitutive effects of exercise parental nowadays.

Les auteurs ont l'intention de discuter dans cet article les changements éventuels dans le fonctionnement des fonctions maternelle et paternelle par les changements actuels dans les structures familiales et leurs implications possibles dans les processus de constitution subjective. Pour ce faire, ils commencent par un bref aperçu sur les moyens de cette constitution, par des auteurs lacaniens. Par la suite remis en question, à la lumière de la théorie de la constitution du sujet, les effets possibles des transformations qui se sont produites dans les rôles traditionnellement exercés par la mère et le père. La conception de l'enfance est considérée depuis les effets constitutifs de l'exercice parental d'aujourd'hui.