WOMB POLITICS : a short history of the future of human reproduction

This book offers a vision of politics that govern the womb; from antiquity (‘be fertile and replenish the earth’), through the ages (hysterectomy, to extirpate women’s ‘hysteria’), up to the present time (abortion wars; assisted reproduction), and into the future (reprogenetics; the artificial womb). It explores how the womb has served humanity, either tacitly or explicitly, through the ages and examines how women have accepted and still perceive the rules created by men as natural - including the new anti-abortion laws in the USA - because ‘that is the way things are.’ The book also explores how the emerging of assisted reproduction technologies and novel genetic tools (reprogenetics) will pose additional challenges to womb bearers, as all women will be made to reproduce with IVF. What is more, the advent of the artificial womb is in sight; the gender and social implications of this development would be enormous. Certainly not just another organ, the womb has been and remains a powerful tool that cannot be left to the decisions of half of the population. This book engages a wide audience, including women and men, professionals and laypersons who are interested in gender, politics, legislation, women’s health, and ethics. Acknowledgments 7 Contents 8 Abbreviations 11 1 Introduction 12 References 22 2 Man and Woman He Created 25 2.1 Gender 26 2.2 The Patriarchy 29 2.3 Patriarchy and Its Discontents: Feminism 32 2.4 Motherhood 37 2.5 Conclusions 38 Notes 39 References 39 3 Womb Politics in the Bible 41 3.1 Adam and Eve 42 3.2 The Womb in the Bible 43 3.3 Infertility 45 3.4 Women in the Talmud 49 3.5 Conclusions 52 Notes 53 References 53 4 Demography Wars 55 4.1 Birth Control—And Its Discontents 56 4.2 Present Trends in Demography 59 4.3 Demography Policies and Women 63 4.4 Conclusions 64 Notes 64 References 65 5 The Advent of the Pill 66 5.1 Women in the 1950s 67 5.2 Contraception and Birth Control 68 5.3 Looking After the Pill 69 5.4 The Pill Trials 73 5.5 The Pill at Last 75 5.6 The Pill Today 79 5.7 Present Trends in Contraception 80 5.8 Conclusions 82 Notes 83 References 84 6 The Abortion Wars 86 6.1 Abortion 87 6.2 Abortion Worldwide 88 6.3 [I]Legal Abortion 89 6.4 Abortion in the United States 91 6.5 The State’s Interest in Abortion 95 6.6 Does Abortion Do Damage to Women? 98 6.7 Conclusions 99 Notes 101 References 102 7 Assisted Reproduction Technologies (ARTs) 103 7.1 IVF in a Nutshell 104 7.2 Some Historical Aspects of IVF 104 7.3 IVF Today 108 7.4 ART at All Cost for Women? 112 7.5 Conclusions 115 Notes 115 References 116 8 Is IVF an Ongoing Experiment? 118 8.1 IVF in Israel 119 8.2 ART Policies in Israel: A Retrospective Analysis of IVF-Embryo Transfer 121 8.3 The 2014 Guideline for IVF in Israel(10) 129 8.4 Discussion Revisited 130 8.5 Conclusions 132 Notes 133 References 133 9 Reprogenetics 136 9.1 Health Care Allocation 137 9.2 Gene Editing 138 9.3 Genetic Enhancement 139 9.4 The Involvement of Women in Gene Enhancement 141 9.5 Would Women Be Under Pressure to Reproduce with IVF? 143 9.6 Conclusions 145 Notes 145 References 146 10 The Artificial Womb (AW) 148 10.1 Research on Ectogenesis 149 10.2 Reproductive Hazards 155 10.3 Facing Ectogenesis 157 10.4 Conclusions 161 Notes 161 References 162 11 A Survey of Lay People’s Attitudes Toward the Artificial Womb and Ectogenesis in Israel 164 11.1 Research Methods 165 11.2 Results 166 11.3 Discussion 170 11.4 Some Lessons Learned from IVF 171 11.5 Conclusions 172 Notes 173 References 173 Conclusions 175 Index 183