The impact of medical technology on the pregnant woman's right to privacy

It has been suggested that the advance of science and technology in the West has changed both the relationship of man to nature and of man to man. With regard to human reproduction, science and technology in medicine may certainly change the relationship of man to nature and of man to man, but also the concept of what it means to be human. Efforts must be taken to guarantee the rights of all humans. The author explores developing reproductive medical technology to consider how it may change our concept of humanness and how that change may be accommodated, encouraged, or impeded by the relationship between the government and its pregnant citizens as defined by the US Constitution and the right to privacy. Sections discuss the Constitution at the beginning of life; sterilization and the right to procreate; contraception, abortion, and the right not to procreate; and surrogacy. The author also discusses constitutional issues when the interests of a pregnant woman conflict with those of the fetus in terms of fetal surgery, forced cesarean-section cases, and the fetal abuse case of Pamela Monson Stewart.