title: Moral traditions, ethical language, and reproductive technologies.
abstract: The Vatican Instruction on reproductive technologies and the OTA report, Infertility, both use "rights" language to advance quite different views of the same subject matter. The former focuses on the rights and welfare of the embryo, and the protection of the family, while the latter stresses the freedom and rights of couples. This essay uses the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Jeffrey Stout to consider the different traditions grounding these definitions of rights. It is proposed that a potentially effective mediating language could be that of "human nature", and argued that donor methods raise more serious moral objections than homologous ones.
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Chestnut Hill 02167.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Cahill
mesh_terms: D002410:Catholicism; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004989:Ethics; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D028681:Moral Obligations; D009014:Morals; D018587:Oocyte Donation; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D012935:Social Justice; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014481:United States; D014491:United States Office of Technology Assessment; D026712:Value of Life; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence