Intersections

First published in 1997, this volume explores how we live in a society which is developing beyond human experience and comprehension - fast. Advances in technology and medicine are profoundly affecting the manner of human living from the beginning through to the end of life. These advances present exciting and demanding challenges to law-makers, policy-makers and healthcare providers, who make decisions about genetics, human reproduction, competence, medical treatment priorities and dying. They also compel us to pay attention to human rights. This international collection of essays combines the thoughts and ideas of women scholars writing about these complex developments and aims at provoking debate and dissension as well as an opportunity for reflection. The writers explore a range of common themes in different areas and provide a coherent framework for law and policy-making, to serve as a foundation for the challenges ahead.

Kerry Petersen

1. Hippocrates: Dead or Alice? Alison Britton. 2. 'It's Not Society That's the Problem, It's Women's Bodies': A Historical View of Medical Treatment of Women. Wendy Mitchinson. 3. Female and Disabled: A Human Rights Perspective on Law and Medicine. Melinda Jones and Lee Ann Marks. 4. The Interaction Between Family Planning Policies and the Introduction of New Reproductive Technologies. R. Alta Charo. 5. Reproductive Autonomy and Reproductive Technology: Gender, Deviance and Infertility. Sharyn L. Roach Anleu. 6. Gamete Donation, Reproductive Technology and the Law. Belinda Bennett. 7. Life After Death? Legal and Ethical Considerations of Maintaining Pregnancy in Brain Dead Women. Sarah Elliston. 8. Letting Die or Assisting Death: How Should the Law Respond to the Patient in a Persistent Vegetative State? Sheila A.M. McLean. 9. Gender and Equity: Emerging Issues in Australian Clinical Drug Trial Regulatory Policies. Leanna Darvall. 10. The Science of Biotechnology: Present, Past and Future Quagmires. Philippa Gannon. 11. Dissecting Medical Power. Kerry Petersen.