REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGYAND
WOMEN OF COLOR
Annotated Bibliography
Kristina Stark
Copyright @ 1997 Kristina Stark. All Rights Reserved.
April 22, 1997
This annotated bibliography explores the topic of
reproductive technology as it affects women of color. The
articles are varied. One article is not a journal article or
a law review but it discusses the results of technology gone
awry when a lab error leaves a white couple with one white
twin and one black twin. The focus is on the implications
for the black child being raised in a white family. Another
article on transracial adoption focuses on this as well.
Very little research exists concerning advanced, "state
of the art" reproductive technology and race. Those
that do take different approaches. Some feel that eugenics
is a major concern based on the history of racism in the
United States. Others do not see eugenics as a
"real" issue. Many articles focus on access to
basic reproductive technology such as abortion and prenatal
care.
Annotations
Andrzej Kulczycki, Malcolm Potts, & Allan Rosenfield, Abortion
and fertility regulation, The Lancet, Vol. 347, No. 16, Page
1663, 1996.
This article reviews the cultural differences as they
correspond to abortion rates worldwide. In the USA, about
60% of all pregnancies are unwanted, with half of these
resulting in abortion. Of these United States women, those
who are young and unmarried are more likely to choose
abortion. World wide, urban and educated women are more
likely to terminate than are rural women. One major
difference between the United States and other cultures is
that abortion is considered more as a contraceptive rather
than controversial matter. The health aspects of abortion
are discussed. "In developed countries, mortality
associated with childbirth is 11 times higher than that for
safely performed abortion procedures, and 30 times higher
than for abortions up to 8 weeks' gestation. Early
termination of pregnancy ranks among the safest and easiest
of surgical procedures." The article discusses the
importance of access to safe abortion. In addition, this
article discusses research that shows that "rates of
abortion and abortion-related mortality will decline most
where a full range of contraceptive options is readily
available free of charge and at low cost; where there is
widespread access to sex education and information; where
the sociocultural context promotes contraceptive
responsibility; and where abortion services are publicly
funded so that, when needed, abortion is performed early in
pregnancy."[Back]
Article,
Black and White Twins Born After Test Tube Mix-Up, Jet,
Volume 88, Issue 11, Pages 34-37, 1992.
This article was included in this annotated bibliography to
serve as an example of problems with reproductive technology
that our society may not be ready to deal with. The Stuarts,
a white couple, went to a highly reputable fertility clinic
in order to take place in IVF. The idea was for Mrs. Stuart
to be inseminated with the sperm of her husband, Mr. Stuart.
However, nine months later, Mrs. Stuart gave birth to two
sons - one is white and the other is biracial black/white.
The hospital has admitted that Mrs. Stuarts eggs were
fertilized with sperm from her husband and a black man who
was in the clinic earlier that day for a similar procedure
performed on his wife. Apparently, the technicians did not
correctly clean the container before adding Mr. Stuart's
sperm. Although the family adores both boys and seems very
open to the biracial child exploring his black heritage, it
still poses great ethical dilemmas. [Back]
Barbara L. Bernier, CLASS,
RACE, AND POVERTY: MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SOCIO-POLITICAL
CHOICES, 11 Harv. BlackLetter J. 115 (1994).
This article discusses "numerous breaches of medical
ethics that have a disproportionate impact upon communities
of color." Beginning with the use of live slaves as
"subjects" for medical school experiments in the
nineteenth century, discriminatory and harmful treatment of
African Americans is traced to modern day "welfare
reform" in the form of Norplant legislation. This
history presents the blatant horrors of research on slaves
to the more subtle measures used today. In addition to the
temporary sterilization of poor women by Norplant, penal
sterilization is also discussed. These include such things
as physical and chemical castration and Norplant.
Constitutional issues are the focus. Lastly, the impact of
legal abortion on women of color is highlighted. The idea is
that white women have greater access to safe abortion even
when it is not legal (because they have greater access to
foreign performed abortions) and that minority women are
protected from back alley practitioners only so long as the
practice is legal in the United States. [Back]
Beverly
Horsburgh, SCHRODINGER'S CAT, EUGENICS, AND THE COMPULSORY
STERILIZATION OF WELFARE MOTHERS: DECONSTRUCTING AN OLD/NEW
RHETORIC AND CONSTRUCTING THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHT TO NATALITY
FOR LOW-INCOME WOMEN OF COLOR, 17 Cardozo L. Rev. 531
(1996).
This article's concern is that "compulsory
sterilization of poor single mothers might well be taken
seriously by many in this country who are attracted to
genetic essentialism and search for low-cost solutions to
social problems." Considering that the racist
stereotype of the welfare mother is young, black, has many
children to avoid having to work, and is of low
intelligence, there is concern that young black women may be
particularly singled out for these procedures. The distinct
possibility of such racist sterilization procedures is
amplified by research showing that 97% of all obstetricians
"favor the sterilization of welfare mothers" and
exert great influence over the child-bearing population as a
whole. The author feels that sterilization is simply a
"disguised form of eugenics" and that black women
are particularly susceptible to such programs as they are at
the "intersectional axis of race, gender, and
class." After exploring the impact of race, gender, and
class on black women, the author reviews the history of
eugenics and racism in the United States with a particular
focus on compulsory sterilization laws. U.S. caselaw is
discussed. Roe v. Wade provided women a fundamental right to
reproductive autonomy. "However, in light of Planned
Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the degree
to which women are in charge of their reproductive autonomy
is unclear." Reproductive rights are also discussed
under the broad right to privacy.[Back]
Joan
C. Callahan and Dorothy E. Roberts, A Feminist Social
Justice Approach to Reproduction-Assisting Technologies: A
Case Study on the Limits of Liberal Theory, 84 Ky. L.J. 1197
(1995/1996).
The question or problem addressed in this law review article
is the statistically significant phenomena of racial
discrimination in the prosecution of drug use during
pregnancy. "Despite the fact that drug use during
pregnancy seems to be equally prevalent among women of all
races in the United States, studies are beginning to show
that black women are nearly ten times more likely than other
women to be reported to child welfare agencies for drug use
during pregnancy, and that at least seventy percent of the
prosecutions are of women of color." (P. 1198). In
addition, more than 80% of caesarean sections ordered by
U.S. courts are performed on women of color - with almost
all of them being performed in public hospitals. 75% of all
women placed on Norplant in this decade as a condition of
probation have been minorities, with all of them being
welfare participants. Another inequity pointed out by the
authors is that almost all children resulting from surrogacy
agreements that are the biological child of both the
surrogate mother and the adopting father are given to the
father to raise, neglecting the genetic tie of the surrogate
to the child. The authors point out all of these phenomena
in an effort to show inequities in human reproduction
according to sex, race, and class. The authors argue that
"contemporary liberal theory" is responsible for
the inequities between the races in the context of this
article and that a "feminist social justice
approach" is the more appropriate model. Although
feminism is not monolithic, it is fairly consistent in
rejecting the extreme individual liberty emphasized in
contemporary society. Instead, feminism advocates
"nurturing of individuals and communities, the
sustaining of relationships, the relief of suffering, and
attention to appropriate substantive equality." In
other words, social responsibility and morality play a more
prominent role in this approach. Aspects of both theories
(liberal and feminist) are discussed in great detail as are
other philosophical approaches to justice with an emphasis
on the concepts of harm, exploitation, and voluntariness.[Back]
John Lynxwiler & David Gay, THE
ABORTION ATTITUDES OF BLACK WOMEN: 1972-1991, Journal of
Black Studies, Volume 27, Number 2, Pages 260-277 (1996).
This journal study looks at the abortion attitudes of
African American women over a twenty year time span in an
attempt to define what factors influences the position of
black women in identifying as either pro-choice or pro-life.
Factors that remained steady across both decades were
attitudes toward premarital sex and perceptions of ideal
family size. Black women supporting liberal divorce laws and
who were employed full-time (more important in the 1970's
than in the 1980's) also tended to identify more as
pro-choice. Religious affiliation is another important
determinant - with members of the Black Protestant Church
being more pro-choice (this church has a relatively relaxed
position on abortion). The authors conclude that race is a
necessary factor in any research concerning abortion
attitudes as people of different cultures have different
values. However, they also hypothesize that in the future
support for legal abortion will be seen more as related to
class rather than to issues of race (with the caveat that
"patterns that may have been interpreted as race
differences in the past increasingly are intertwined with,
and should be understood as, shifts in socioeconomic
status). (p. 274). [Back]
Katheryn D. Katz, GHOST
MOTHERS: HUMAN EGG DONATION AND THE LEGACY OF THE PAST, 57
Alb. L. Rev. 733 (1994).
This article discusses egg donation as it relates to
"the importance of genetic considerations in shaping
legal and social policy on egg donation." Various forms
of reproductive technology are discussed as well as the
complex ethical issues involved. The science of genetics is
explored, with a focus on problems involving genetic
predispositions to criminal behavior or certain biological
diseases. Another aspect of this discussion is the fear of
eugenics programs being created. Selective breeding could
result in racial discrimination. This idea is extrapolated
to how society would react to a strain of superior humans -
and how the rest of humanity could conceivably fall by the
wayside. Court decisions on the rights of surrogates versus
the rights of the adoptive parents are unpredictable at
best. Some courts feel that the genetic tie gives the
surrogate a right to the child while others view this more
as a contract agreement and award the child to the
contracting adoptive parents. Legal opinions involving
adoptions where there was no surrogate are also discussed.
Most of these cases arise where the biological parents have
not given valid consent to the adoption. Again, the various
jurisdictions have very different opinions on the issue.
Other issues are transracial adoptions and whether or not a
particular race can lay claim that it is the only one
capable of raising its children. After reading this article,
one walks away with the same sense of confusion reflected by
American case law... The tie between genetics and parenthood
is a complex issue that will take many years to resolve.
This is especially true in light of rapidly changing
technology that our laws cannot keep up with. [Back]
Ken Daniels & Karyn Taylor, FORMULATING
SELECTION POLICIES FOR ASSISTED REPRODUCTION, Soc. Sci.
Med., Vol. 31, No. 12, pp. 1473 - 1480, (1993).
This journal article considers selection policies used to
decide who is allowed access to assisted reproduction.
Basically, this decision is made by the medical providers
themselves, without any sort of public or legal
responsibility. The authors' concern is that the individual
value system of the provider is being forced upon would-be
parents. This is evidenced by the facts that there is a
widely held belief that access to fertilization techniques
should be limited to heterosexual married couples and access
should be restricted to those exhibiting appropriate family
values. The implication is that the medical practitioner is
the one who decides what "appropriate family
values" are. There is little legislation on this point.
However, The National Bioethics Consultative Committee (in
Australia) has summarized several criteria followed by many
clinics. Several examples of exclusionary criteria are also
listed. These exclusionary criteria discriminate on the
basis of age, life-style, marital status, cultural
background, and nationality. Although this would seem
generally wrong, it makes little difference what an ethics
code says when the real power is still with the medical
practitioners. "Until the attitudes of those
professionals running the programmes change, simply removing
discriminatory criteria from the formal selection procedures
will not prevent discrimination occurring in the selection
process." (P. 1478).[Back]
Laurence C. Nolan, THE
UNCONSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS DOCTRINE AND MANDATING NORPLANT
FOR WOMEN ON WELFARE DISCOURSE, 3 Am. U. J. Gender & Law
15 (1994).
This article begins by stating the basic myths and
stereotypes surrounding welfare and, more particularly,
welfare mothers. Legislation attempting to use Norplant as a
form of probation or welfare reform is discussed. The main
point of this article is that "the unconstitutional
conditions doctrine must be part of the discourse regarding
welfare reform and contraceptives, especially if the
government begins to mandate the use of contraceptives such
as Norplant." A government cannot do indirectly what it
cannot do directly (i.e. condition a government benefit on
the giving up of a fundamental right). Females exclusively,
and minorities disproportionately, are affected by Norplant
legislation. This raises equality issues. In addition, the
Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
protects the rights of privacy and autonomy of the
individual (liberty interest). The role of the
unconstitutional conditions doctrine is discussed as
providing legislatures and courts "with the proper
framework against which to view the constitutionality of
such conditions." Many effects of Norplant legislation
are discussed, including coercion and the ability of the
government to "engage in the social engineering of
family structures by gender, class, and race." [Back]
Melynda G. Broomfield, CONTROLLING
THE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS OF IMPOVERISHED WOMEN: IS THIS THE
WAY TO "REFORM" WELFARE?, 16 B.C. Third World L.J.
217 (1996).
This article discusses the wisdom of contemporary proposals
to "reform" welfare by "denying increased
AFDC for additional children while [a mother is] on welfare,
cut spending for welfare programs, and enact a tough
two-years-and-out provision with work requirements to
promote individual responsibility." The history of the
welfare and eugenics movements in the United States are
reviewed with an emphasis on the belief that those who are
economically disadvantaged are also genetically inferior. In
so doing, the stereotype of typical welfare recipients as
being "unmarried, young black women with several
children, who are long-term dependents of the welfare system
and whose dependency is in turn passed on from generation to
generation" is examined and refuted. Although more
whites receive assistance than blacks and the overwhelming
majority of individuals are off welfare within two years,
this is not the perception of the American public.
Therefore, one must ask whether welfare "reform"
that involves temporary sterilization is purely a cost
containment proposal or whether there is subversive racism
going on. Measures such as "family caps" and
"Norplant bonuses" are extensively reviewed, with
the major pros and cons of each being summarized. The
Constitutionality of these measures is discussed, with the
major focus being on equal protection and procreation as a
fundamental right. [Back]
Nancy Leland, Donna Petersen, Mary Braddock & Greg
Alexander, Variations
in Pregnancy Outcomes by Race Among 10-14-Year-Old Mothers
in the United States, Public Health Reports, Volume 110,
Issue 1, Pages 53-58, 1995.
This research study looks at pregnancy rates and outcomes
for young adolescents (ages 10-14) and makes comparisons
based on race. Overall, pregnancy rates were seven times
higher in the African American population. White mothers
were both more likely to start prenatal care in the first
trimester and to receive no prenatal care at all. Only 22.2%
of whites and 20.4% of blacks received adequate prenatal
care. Black mothers are more likely to deliver preterm, very
preterm, and low birth weight infants than the white
adolescents. Although there were significant differences
between the races in some categories, the disparities were
less striking than those typically seen in the general
population. In the general U.S. population, blacks have
approximately twice the infant and neonatal mortality rates
and twice the percentage of low birth weight babies than
whites. Although the white adolescents in the study had
significantly poorer outcomes than adult white women, the
same was not true in the black population. The authors
suggest further studies in this area to determine the
cumulative impact of poverty on blacks in this country that
contributes to this problem in addition to identifying young
girls who are pregnant relatively quickly so that prenatal
care can be initiated. [Back]
Owen D. Jones, Reproductive
Autonomy & Evolutionary Biology: A Regulatory Framework
for Trait-Selection Technologies, American Journal of Law
& Medicine, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 187-231 (1993).
This article looks at trait selection technology as it
exists today and discusses social and legal ramification of
such technology in the future. It begins by discussing
evolutionary biology and how our genetic makeup as human
beings changes and adapts naturally over time. It also
examines and discusses specific trait-selection technologies
such as sex selection techniques and genetic testing (the
results of which may prompt a woman to have an abortion).
Eugenics is also discussed. After looking at the scientific
ramifications of each, the author concludes that such
reproductive technology cannot be prohibited without
satisfying a heightened scrutiny test under a line of legal
reasoning culminating with Planned Parenthood v. Casey (112
S. Ct. 2791, 2805 (1992)). The personal liberty interest in
using such technology is likened to the rights to
contraception, interracial marriage, and freedom from
physical restraint. Any infringement of the right to use
this technology would be interfering with a "person's
most basic decisions about family and parenthood." (The
author takes this quote from Planned Parenthood v. Casey at
2806). Although the author eventually concedes that certain
limitations must be put on this technology, he rejects
arguments expressing concerns over eugenics. [Back]
Ruth Colker, AN
EQUAL PROTECTION ANALYSIS OF UNITED STATES REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH POLICY: GENDER, RACE, AGE, AND CLASS, Duke L.J. 324
(1991).
This essay seeks to "create a gender-based equal
protection framework that is attentive to the ways in which
U.S. reproductive health policies impact on one particular
subgroup of women -- adolescents." (P. 324). The
article begins with the premise that the United States
Legislature has passed laws affecting all females in the
U.S. as if they constitute a monolithic group. These laws
apparently presuppose that all women are "white,
middle-class, able-bodied, heterosexual, [and] adult."
(P. 326) The author advocates a new approach, one that takes
differences such as age, race and class into consideration.
Instead of looking at adolescent pregnancy as a problem
because of the pregnancy and the age of the women, the
author approaches it from the perspective that it is a
problem because of the inadequate social resources devoted
to facilitating the pregnancy. She also feels that the
debate over teenage pregnancy and abortion focuses on the
wrong variable when the argument is over the "problem
of teenage sexual activity." Instead of looking at
this, the point should be "the lack of access to and
use of effective contraceptives during sexual activity that
creates unintended pregnancy and early childbirth, and
inadequate prenatal care that makes the pregnancies harmful
to the pregnant woman and fetus." (P. 330). In
addition, although there is ample literature on how race and
reproduction coincide, there is almost no information
available on "the special problems faced by adolescent
women who are handicapped, lesbian, or victims of
incest." (P. 341). The article goes on to discuss the
specific problems encountered by adolescents and their
children and comes to the conclusion that socioeconomic
status, rather than age, is the greatest indicator of poor
outcome in a teen pregnancy. Studies suggest that the more
liberal a country is in discussing pregnancy, sexuality, and
birth control, the lower the teen pregnancy rate and
abortion rate. Ways to lower the negative outcomes to
adolescent women and their children are to increase
accessibility to information and contraception, make
prenatal care more available, accessible abortion, and
easily accessible adoption services. The article then
concludes with an equal protection analysis of the teenage
pregnancy dilemma and concludes that pregnant adolescents
should be treated as a "suspect class" because of
the "extensive record of society coercing pregnant
adolescents to undergo childbirth, despite the dramatic
negative consequences of such childbirth on the lives of the
pregnant adolescents as well as her future offspring."
(P. 366). The legislature also has an obligation to protect
this group. Being covered under the equal protection clause
would give the adolescent women of this country greater
power and control over their bodies than the current
protection under the right to privacy. [Back]
Ruth-Arlene W. Howe, REDEFINING
THE TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION CONTROVERSY, 2 Duke J. Gender L.
& Pol'y 131 (1995)
This essay discusses the highly debated and emotional topic
of interracial adoption in the United States. The author's
view is that essentially it is wrong for white (and
impliedly other non- black races) to adopt African American
children. It makes no difference that there are many black
children without families. The important focus for society
should be on facilitating strong black families "as
opposed to token desegregation in the white world." (P.
138). The controversy this author sees with transracial
adoption is that it is not about fulfilling the needs of
black children, but rather on facilitating the right of
white adults to adopt any babies they choose too. In a nut
shell, "this Essay analyzes how eliminating same-race
placement preferences in order to establish a new right for
white adults affects Black children, Black families, and the
Black community generally." (P. 139). [Back]
Susan E. Lederer, Sex,
Race, and Science: Eugenics in the Deep South, Journal of
American History, Vol. 82, No. 4, Page 1622, (1996)
(reviewing Edward J. Larson, Sex, Race, and Science:
Eugenics in the Deep South (1996)).
This book review discussed the 1991 exploits of Louisiana
gubernatorial candidate, David Duke, including introducing a
bill offering female welfare recipients money in they would
agree to temporary sterilization via Norplant. The author of
the book discusses the history of eugenics in the South and
points out that David Duke is not the first, nor in all
likelihood will he be the last, who attempts to diminish, if
not altogether wipe out, the African American population.
Early twentieth century laws regarding sterilization of
"genetically defective" individuals are compared
and contrasted with Nazi sterilization programs. The book
focuses on the South in order to point out the racial
component in eugenics proposals. For example, "[i]n
South Carolina ... in the years between 1949 and 1960, 102
of the 104 sterilizations at the state mental health
hospital were performed on Black women." [Back]
Kristina Stark was a 3rd Year Law Student at the
University of Dayton School of Law at the time she competed
this annotated bibliography for Health Care Law Class |
