Reproductive Issues in America: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues)

A balanced and thoughtful analysis of human reproduction issues in the United States with emphasis on the ethical and policy implications of cutting-edge reproductive technologies.

Few subjects are as divisive and partisan as the issues surrounding the propagation of the human species. This thorough examination covers the full scope of the debates and offers an up to the minute survey of the controversial technologies that are at the heart of reproductive rights in the United States.

The areas explored range from abortion and sterilization to fetal research and human cloning. The moral, societal, and public policy implications of each subject are examined thoroughly, with emphasis on those areas where cutting-edge technology has raced ahead of public policy, thereby creating new concerns for ethicists and policy-makers. Legislative oversight or the freedom to pursue reproductive technologies at any cost, this debate is far from over.

Robert H. Blank is an Adjunct Professor at University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and Visiting Professor in Public Health at the National Taiwan University.

ROBERT H. BLANK is Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Program for Biosocial Research at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of many books, including, most recently, Biomedical Technology and Public Policy (Greenwood Press, 1989) and Regulating Reproduction (1990).