| Title |
Engendering Harm: A Critique of Sex Selection For “Family Balancing”
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, January 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11673-017-9835-4 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Arianne Shahvisi |
| Abstract |
The most benign rationale for sex selection is deemed to be "family balancing." On this view, provided the sex distribution of an existing offspring group is "unbalanced," one may legitimately use reproductive technologies to select the sex of the next child. I present four novel concerns with granting "family balancing" as a justification for sex selection: (a) families or family subsets should not be subject to medicalization; (b) sex selection for "family balancing" entrenches heteronormativity, inflicting harm in at least three specific ways; (c) the logic of affirmative action is appropriated; (d) the moral mandate of reproductive autonomy is misused. I conclude that the harms caused by family balancing are sufficiently substantive to override any claim arising from a supposed right to sex selection as an instantiation of procreative autonomy. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 33% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 33% |
| Unknown | 1 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 33% |
| Members of the public | 1 | 33% |
| Scientists | 1 | 33% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 39 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 39 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 15% |
| Other | 2 | 5% |
| Researcher | 2 | 5% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 2 | 5% |
| Other | 5 | 13% |
| Unknown | 15 | 38% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 5 | 13% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 10% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 8% |
| Psychology | 3 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 5% |
| Other | 7 | 18% |
| Unknown | 15 | 38% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 22. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 May 2024.
All research outputs
#1,741,659
of 25,934,224 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
#68
of 675 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#39,392
of 453,913 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
#1
of 17 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 675 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.5. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 17 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.