A sex police for adults with "mental retardation"? Comment on Spiecker and Steutel.
This article is a rebuttal of the claim by Spiecker and Steutel that sex between people with mild and moderate "mental retardation" is morally permissable only with the substitutive consent of caregivers. After a review of historical, empirical and practical considerations, an ethical analysis is undertaken which concludes that Spiecker and Steutel's arguments are deeply flawed and their proposed policy morally objectionable.
Greenspan
Stephen
S
University of Connecticut, USA. sgreenspan@earthlink.net
D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D003657:Decision Making; D026689:Ethical Analysis; D005053:Eugenics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D026706:Paternalism / Q000941:ethics; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000941:ethics*; D020458:Third-Party Consent / Q000941:ethics*