“The Politics of Reproduction” will focus on the global social, economic and political repercussions of new forms of reproduction, including assisted reproductive technology (ART) and transnational adoption. These new technologies have created a “baby business” that is largely unregulated and that raises a number of important social and ethical questions. Do these new technologies place women and children at risk? Should there be limits on how reproductive technologies are used? How should we respond ethically to the ability of these technologies to test for genetic illnesses? And how can we ensure that marginalized individuals, for example, people with disabilities, women of color, and low-income women, have equal access to these new technologies and adoption practices? The conference will feature numerous experts in the field of reproductive rights and reproductive justice, including:
Lori Andrews, Distinguished Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Director of the Institute for Science, Law, and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and an expert in biotechnologies.
Sarah Franklin, Professor of Social Studies of Biomedicine and Associate Director of the BIOS Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Michele Goodwin, Everett Fraser Professor in Law at the University of Minnesota and founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Bioethics at DePaul College of Law.
Rayna Rapp, Professor of Anthropology at New York University and author of the award-winning Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: The Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America.
Loretta Ross, National Coordinator and founding member of SisterSong, a reproductive justice collective.
Debora Spar, President of Barnard College and author of The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception.
More information about the event and a complete list of panelists can be found here!
