Ethical Issues in Women's Healthcare

Abstract

This volume brings together original essays exploring the intersections of clinical practice, policy, and bioethics in women’s healthcare. Including but moving beyond the familiar theme of reproduction, it aims to both broaden areas of scholarship in feminist bioethics and to respond to ethical challenges that many women experience in accessing healthcare. Some of the contributions overlap with concerns that feminist scholars have voiced in the past, such as the medicalization of women’s bodies, but address new procedures (e.g., female cosmetic genital surgery). Other chapters expand into new fields that are underexplored in the bioethics literature, such as ethical issues concerning the care of Indigenous women, uninsured refugees and immigrants, women engaged in sex work, and those with HIV and perinatal mental health disorders. The richness of the collection lies in the multitude of disciplines represented. Contributors range from those who are in active clinical practice—medicine, nursing, and ethics—to philosophers contemplating new conceptual issues. Topical and contemporary, this book provides a valuable resource for physicians, nurses, clinical ethicists, and researchers working in the areas of women’s health and applied ethics.