Dimensions of Equality in Regulating Assisted Reproductive Technologies

Abstract:     
Although concerns about individual liberty and the nature and extent of reproductive freedom have tended to dominate discussions regarding the proliferation of and access to reproductive technologies, questions about the implications of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) for equality have also arisen. Despite the high number of invocations of equality in the literature regarding ARTs, to date little effort has been made to comprehensively examine the implications of ARTs for equality. This short Article seeks to highlight the variety of equality issues that ARTs present and to develop a framework for classifying different types of equality issues. Specifically, I suggest that three different types of equality concerns exist relevant to discussions about regulating ARTs: equality of access to ARTs (and thus parenthood), equal treatment in the resolution of disputes arising from the use of ARTs, and equality issues raised by trait-selection practices. My point herein is neither to condemn nor to rationalize the inequalities that close examination may reveal. This Article instead issues a challenge to scholars in the field to undertake a broader, more thorough consideration of the implications for equality that the development of, and regulation or non-regulation of, ARTs present.

Keywords: civil rights, medical jurisprudence, equality, assisted reproductive technologies, ARTs, disputes, trait-selection, regulation

Accepted Paper Series