Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Reproductive Rights”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources

The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is essential in time reproduction: an investigation with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

This study used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the roles of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and supplementary motor area (SMA) in short (500 ms) and long (2 s) interval timing. The results were compared with rTMS over the leg area of motor cortex, an area not thought to be involved with time estimation. rTMS was delivered during one of two phases of a time reproduction task: at the onset of the Estimation Phase (presentation of the interval to be timed) and at the onset of the Reproduction Phase (subjects' reproduction of the timed interval). There was a significant main effect of Site (SMA vs. right DLPFC vs. leg motor area) due to the fact that rTMS over the right DLPFC caused subjects to underestimate time intervals compared with rTMS over the leg motor area. There was also a significant three-way interaction between Site, Duration and Phase (Estimation Phase vs. Reproduction Phase) that post hoc analyses showed was due to underestimation of long intervals when rTMS was given over the right DLPFC at the start of the Reproduction Phase. There was no effect of rTMS over the right DLPFC or SMA in the short interval task. This is consistent with previous studies showing that the right DLPFC is important in estimating time intervals in the seconds-range. In addition, we suggest that the selectivity of the rTMS effect for the Reproduction Phase indicates that the right DLPFC plays a particular role in memory processes.

Adult↗

Transuterine sperm transport is not affected by bilateral asymmetry of the reproductive system in dairy cows.

Effects of right versus left side activities of the reproductive organs on sperm transport after deep cornual insemination were evaluated in 1686 Friesian cows in their first lactational period. Only single ovulating animals were used. At insemination, semen was deposited deep into the uterine horn ipsilateral or contralateral to the preovulatory follicle. Pregnancy rates were used as measurement of the success of sperm transport. The reproductive history of each cow included that of the side of the previous gestation. A higher activity of the right versus left side was registered. Following calving and after uterine involution, activities of the right versus left side reproductive organs remained constant independently of the side of previous pregnancy, and did not affect transuterine sperm transport. The data indicate that after uterine involution sperm transport is not affected by bilateral asymmetry of the reproductive system in cattle.

Journal Article↗

[Reproductive health: some data and reflections].

Respect for human rights goes beyond the concept of reproductive health. The right to a responsible, satisfactory and safe sex life and the right to choose the number of children means that we must also concern ourselves with such concepts as fertility, unwanted pregnancy and assisted reproduction. Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with 1.24 children per woman. Data from a recent national survey showed that 7.2% of Spanish women are at risk for an unwanted pregnancy, either due to failure to use contraceptive measures or to use of poorly efficient measures. The abortion ratio, which has been increasing since 1992, was about 7 per 1000 women in 2001. On the other hand, although more and more couples are consulting with problems of sterility, the public health services do not appear to be covering their requirements.

Contraception↗

Freedom of choice in birth, abortion and the place of conscientious objection.

The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia includes two statutes: (a) the freedom to decide about the birth of one's own child (freedom of birth-decision), and (b) the right of conscientious objection, including the right to abortion. This discussion focuses on the principles of "free choice and womens'reproductive freedom". The right of conscientious objection in relation to the right to abortion is also discussed.

Abortion, Legal↗

The right to an heir in the era of assisted reproduction.

The latest remarkable technological advances in assisted reproduction, which enable cryopreservation of spermatozoa, embryos and ovarian tissue, raise difficult and debatable legal, social, ethical and moral issues concerning the right to posthumous reproduction. Furthermore, reports on the attitudes of the general public and of centres licensed for infertility treatment in the United Kingdom found that the majority of women and centres support the idea of posthumous reproduction. In this paper we review the data published on this issue, and after considering the various aspects, we conclude that each case should be discussed and authorized by a multidisciplinary committee that includes physicians, clergy, psychiatrists, psychologists, sociologists and other appropriate parties. In our opinion, the main principles that should guide this committee would allow posthumous reproduction in the context of marriage when a prior consent exists. For unmarried persons, post-mortem donation of gametes should be done only anonymously, if they are in agreement with existing laws concerning infertility treatments in every country and after appropriate consent and proper counselling. Moreover, any case which involves consanguinity or a possibility of incest should be forbidden, both for ethical and genetic reasons. In a case of pre-existing siblings, they should be consulted and their informed consent should be granted in advance so as to avoid legal problems in the inheritance of property.

Attitude↗

The regulation of science and the Charter of Rights: would a ban on non-reproductive human cloning unjustifiably violate freedom of expression?

Non-Reproductive Human Cloning (NRHC) allows researchers to develop and clone cells, including non-reproductive cells, and to research the etiology and transmission of disease. The ability to clone specific stem cells may also allow researchers to clone cells with genetic defects and analyze those cells with more precisions. Despite those potential benefits, Parliament has banned such cloning due to a myriad of social and ethical concerns. In May 2002, the Canadian Government introduced Bill C-13 on assisted human reproductive technologies. Bill C-13 deals with both the scientific and the clinical use of human reproductive materials, and it prohibits a number of other activities, including NRHC. Although the Supreme Court of Canada has never ruled on whether scientific experiments area form of expression, academic support exists for this notion. The authors go through the legal analysis that would be required to find that scientific experiments are expression, focusing in part on whether NRHC could be considered violent and thus fall outside the protection of section 2(b). The latter question is complicated by the ongoing policy debate over whether an "embryonic cell" is property of human life. The authors then consider whether a ban on NRHC could be justified under section 1 of the Charter. They conclude that both the breadth of the legislative purpose and the proportionality of the measure are problematic. Proportionality is a specific concern because the ban could be viewed as an outright denial of scientific freedom of expression. Although consistent with current jurisprudence on freedom of expression, this paper runs against the flow of government policy in the areas of regulation and prohibition of non-reproductive human cloning. As there has been no Charter litigation to date on whether scientific research is a form of expression, the authors introduce a new way of looking at the legality of the regulation of new reproductive technologies.

Biomedical Research↗

Health, Human Rights and Lesbian Existence.

This essay briefly examines the intersection of "health and human rights" strategies with two critical international human rights movements: women's rights and gay rights. It concludes that within international frameworks defining a woman's right to health, reproductive health has played a predominant role, and when discussions of health and human rights have addressed issues of homosexuality, they have tended to focus on the explosive conjunction of AIDS and discrimination in the lives of gay men. Nevertheless, despite the fact that strategies for achieving a human right to health have tended to focus on issues less than central to many lesbians' lives, the emerging health and human rights paradigm by allowing a "whole person" analysis that takes into account the dynamics of individual and social relations as well as basic human needsmay paradoxically offer lesbians the potential to counteract the harms that have evolved within the arenas of health and human rights independently, while avoiding the pitfalls of identity-based claims.

Journal Article↗

In vitro fertilization: a right or a privilege?

Infertility is a common medical problem affecting millions of couples worldwide. As new and more effective treatments arise, a host of ethical issues are generated. Is reproduction a fundamental right, or a luxury? Is it in the best interests of society to guarantee reproductive abilities for all of its members? Specifically, should insurance companies be compelled to pay for all expensive infertility therapies (such as in vitro fertilization), especially in light of global over-population concerns? This paper addresses these issues, and discusses other ethical considerations generated by infertility treatments.

Ethics, Medical↗

Legal issues affecting confidentiality and informed consent in reproductive health.

The law governing confidentiality and informed consent has acquired unique characteristics in the area of reproductive health, as a consequence of both the establishment of a constitutional right to privacy in reproductive health matters and the reaction of those politically and morally opposed to the exercise of that right. The primary issues have involved: 1) the right of minors to receive reproductive health services without parental consent, which remains a political battleground; 2) laws requiring physicians to provide information to pregnant patients that is intended, not to inform them of the risks and benefits of the procedure, but to discourage them from obtaining abortions; 3) coerced and prohibited sterilizations; 4) court-ordered contraception and procedures to protect the fetus; and 5) restrictions on counseling about abortion, contraception, sterilization, and other reproductive health services authorized by state conscience or noncompliance clauses that shield such restrictions from the usual ethical, medical, and legal rules governing informed consent. The last area is of profound significance to the ability of women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health options. In the current economic environment, which fuels mergers and acquisitions involving sectarian and nonsectarian institutions, women are increasingly being put at risk as a result of such restrictions.

Adolescent↗

Copyright law and academic radiology: rights of authors and copyright owners and reproduction of information.

Desktop computer hardware and software provide many new and accessible avenues for increased academic productivity, but some activities may have legal implications. The advent of technologies such as scanners, the ever-increasing number of electronic bulletin boards, and the development of the "information superhighway" affect the concept of copyright and require authors and publishers to reconsider their legal rights and obligations when they create or publish new works or modify existing ones. For example, with desktop scanners, almost any image, published or otherwise, can be copied, enhanced, and manipulated. Moreover, many radiologists have access to copyrighted digital radiologic teaching file images, such as those from the University of Iowa or the University of Washington, which are available (and "downloadable") on the Internet. Because "downloading" (or "uploading") a document or image is essentially making a copy of that document or image, copyright laws and the rights that they afford authors are involved.

Academic Medical Centers↗

Legal forms and reproductive norms.

This article draws on Pashukanis's concept of legal form and on O'Brien's concept of synthetic value to argue that legal form plays a role in reproductive relations by constructing legal subjects as the bearers of reproductive responsibilities. Pashukanis conceived of legal form as playing a particular role in capitalist exchange relations by interpellating subjects as the bearers of property rights. O'Brien argued that reproduction's specific value is synthetic value, which represents the value of integrating nature and reason in species continuity. Synthetic value is distinct from exchange value or emotional value which may also attach to reproductive process. By working through Pashukanis's method of extracting legal form from specific social relations and by adapting it to reproductive relations, an example is provided of how legal form analysis can be extended beyond the particular context of capitalist exchange relations. Just as legal form constitutes owners and non-owners as legal subjects, so it constitutes reproducers and non-reproducers. By tracing the way in which law attributes reproductive responsibility, legal form analysis shows us how law draws a line between wanting to attribute responsibility and not to attribute it, and this contradiction is a hook which social forces such as sexuality, gender, race, class and disability can latch on to in pushing legal form to shape reproductive responsibilities in a particular way. Each legal form is also externally contradicted by other legal forms. When law negotiates a balance between the reproductive norms of responsibilities and rights, it demonstrates how particular legal forms manage the interaction of different sets of social relations, such as reproduction and exchange.

Capitalism↗

A strategic assessment of abortion and contraception in Romania.

The history of fertility regulation in Romania illustrates the complex interactions between politics, women's reproductive health and rights and access to high quality care. This paper describes the current situation of abortion and contraception in Romania, based on national statistics, recent reproductive health surveys and the findings of a strategic assessment led by the Ministry of Health in late 2001. This rapid assessment employed a participatory, qualitative methodology. Over 500 people were interviewed from 145 institutions in 25 cities, towns and villages in Romania, about the range of actions needed to prevent unwanted pregnancies, reduce abortion-related morbidity and mortality and improve the quality, accessibility and availability of abortion and contraceptive services. Although much progress has been made in contraceptive services over the past ten years, improvements in abortion care have lagged considerably The assessment played an important role in raising team members' awareness and motivation to take action. Some of the issues identified are already being addressed by the institutions that took part. National standards and guidelines for comprehensive abortion care have been developed, contraceptive services have been expanded at primary health care level, sexual and reproductive health education provided by classroom teachers has been introduced in schools, and a study to test a model of comprehensive abortion care services for Romania is planned.

Abortion, Induced↗

Sexual and reproductive health for all: a call for action.

At the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, the international community agreed to make reproductive health care universally available no later than 2015. After a 5-year review of progress towards implementation of the Cairo programme of action, that commitment was extended to include sexual, as well as reproductive, health and rights. Although progress has been made towards this commitment, it has fallen a long way short of the original goal. We argue that sexual and reproductive health for all is an achievable goal--if cost-effective interventions are properly scaled up; political commitment is revitalised; and financial resources are mobilised, rationally allocated, and more effectively used. National action will need to be backed up by international action. Sustained effort is needed by governments in developing countries and in the donor community, by inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, the women's health movement, philanthropic foundations, the private for-profit sector, the health profession, and the research community.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗