The Moral Status of Contraception and Openness to Procreation Cover Image

Moralnost uporabe kontracepcije i otvorenost prokreaciji
The Moral Status of Contraception and Openness to Procreation

Author(s): Snježana Prijić-Samaržija
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju
Keywords: contraception; bioethics; philosophy of sexuality; reproductive autonomy; intention; natural and artificial methods

Summary/Abstract: Permissibility of contraception as a method of birth control is closely connected with issues of moral justification of reproductive autonomy, namely the question whether or not individuals should be allowed to autonomously and freely decide if they are going to have children, when and how many. The development of medical and scientific tech­nologies led to the usage of artificial methods of contraception that can prevent concep­tion with the goal of postponing and planning the birth of a child. In the first part I analyse the bioethical arguments that appear in debates about reproductive autonomy and which can be mobilized against the permissibility of contraception. In the second part I have com­pared the bioethical arguments to those used against the artificial contraception in the lit­erature about the philosophy of sexuality. In the third and final part, I have argued against the stance of G.E.M. Anscombe and J. Finnis that there is morally relevant distinction be­tween artificial and natural methods of birth control.

  • Issue Year: 23/2012
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 4-18
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: English