Relational ethics, new reproductive technologies, and charter applications

The objective of this thesis is to address the fact that new reproductive technologies have been met with both resistance and acceptance by feminists. These contradictory attitudes are represented in differing feminist ideologies and also surface in individual women who experience contradictions in their values, feelings and actions when they make personal decisions regarding NRTs. In the first chapter, I develop a contextual approach to understanding NRTs that takes these mixed reactions into account by revealing the subtleties of the dialogues that occur between the oppressed and the oppressors. The purpose of the second chapter is to develop an ethical framework that can contend with women's deep-rooted ties to patriarchy, and is grounded in a relational understanding of personhood, enabling us to identify systemic features that shape women's decisions and values. In the final chapter, I flesh out relational concepts of equality and autonomy and demonstrate their potential role, alongside a relational interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in guiding policy formulation concerning NRTs.