Women and prenatal testing
Subtitle: facing the challenges of genetic technology
By: edited by Karen H. Rothenberg and Elizabeth J. Thomson.
Contributors: Rothenberg, Karen H., 1952-; Thomson, Elizabeth Jean.
Series: Women and health series; Women & health (Columbus, Ohio)
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Columbus
Language: eng
Number of pages: 304
Subjects: Prenatal diagnosis -- Moral and ethical aspects.; Prenatal diagnosis -- Social aspects.; Prenatal diagnosis -- Psychological aspects.
Other titles: Women & prenatal testing.
Description: For pregnant women in the 1990s, technological developments have ushered in new and expanding reproductive genetic testing options. Some herald these procedures as advances providing women with previously unavailable information about their pregnancies.

Others contend that with this surge of information come increasing and perhaps unwarranted obligations: while some women have greater knowledge about their pregnancies, they also face far more complex decisions and a greater pressure to do as much as is technologically possible to ensure the birth of a healthy child.

This book focuses on the major women's issues surrounding the development and application of reproductive genetic testing. Although much has been written about the biological safety and efficacy of these technologies, few publications have addressed their psychological, sociocultural, ethical, legal, and political impact on women and their experience of pregnancy.

The first of three sections provides the contextual framework in which the debate should be analyzed. The second section sets forth the philosophical foundations and complex ethical and legal questions that need to be addressed, and the final section delineates a variety of perspectives on the psychological and sociocultural issues raised by reproductive genetic testing.

These fourteen essays on the cutting edge of the debate are essential reading for anyone interested in women's studies, human genetics, health law; and bioethics and prenatal care providers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Spine title: Women & prenatal testing.