Should Parents Be Licensed?

by Tittle, Peg

• ISBN13: 9781591020943
• ISBN10: 1591020948
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

In this informative and thought-provoking collection of articles, experts from the disciplines of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, law, political science, public health, sociology, and anthropology consider the many issues involved in licensing parents.

Author Biography

Peg Tittle taught applied ethics for several years at Nipissing University, in North Bay, Ontario, and has worked with children and adolescents in various capacities

Table of Contents

Introduction	9	(40)
I. PARENTING	49	(92)
1. Proposals	49	(50)
Licensing Parents
Hugh LaFollette	51	(13)
A National Parenting Policy
Jack C. Westman	64	(19)
A Policy of Parent Licensing
Katherine Covell and R. Brian Howe	83	(7)
Parenthood Training or Mandatory Birth Control: Take Your Choice
Roger W. McIntire	90	(9)
2. Assessment	99	(42)
Licensing Parents: How Feasible?
Claudia Pap Mangel	101	(14)
Custody Evaluations: A Realistic View
Diane A. Trombetta	115	(4)
Adoption and the Parental Screening System
Elizabeth Bartholet	119	(11)
Reproductive Rights and Access to the Means of Reproduction
Christine Overall	130	(11)
II. PARENTAGE	141	(68)
1. Genetic Disease	141	(24)
Can Having Children Be Immoral?
Laura M. Purdy	143	(14)
Implications of Prenatal Diagnosis for the Human Right to Life
Leon R. Kass	157	(8)
2. Genetic Control	165	(44)
The Ethics of Genetic Control: Some Answers
Joseph Fletcher	167	(9)
Debunking the Slippery Slope Argument against Human Germ-Line Gene Therapy
David Resnik	176	(14)
Reproductive Rights and Genetic Disease
Lawrence P. Ulrich	190	(4)
Parents and Genetic Counselors: Moral Issues
Ruth Macklin	194	(15)
III. OBJECTIONS AND REPLIES	209	(148)
1. Do We Have a Right to "Have Children"?	209	(45)
Procreative Liberty
John A. Robertson	211	(13)
The Moral Bases of a Right to Reproductive Freedom
Dan W. Brock	224	(6)
Is There a Natural Right to Have Children?
S.L. Floyd and D. Pomerantz	230	(3)
Having Children: Introduction
Ruth F. Chadwick	233	(10)
Sterilization of the Mentally Severely Handicapped: A Violation of the Right to Have Children?	243	(7)
Eike-Henner W. Kluge	243	(7)
The Right to Procreate: When Rights Claims Have Gone Wrong	250	(4)
Laura Shanner	250	(4)
2. Is Legislation the Best Response?	254	(103)
Norplant, Forced Contraception, and Irresponsible Reproduction	256	(25)
John A. Robertson	256	(25)
The Mythology of Family Planners
Edgar R. Chasteen	281	(19)
Genetic Engineering: Goals and Controls
Peter Singer and Deane Wells	300	(4)
Inescapable Eugenics
Philip Kitcher	304	(5)
Arguments in Favor and against Legally Requiring a Pregnant Woman to Act in the Interests of Her Future Child	309	(24)
Deborah Mathieu	309	(24)
Arguments against Licensing Parents
Jack C. Westman	333	(24)
Epilogue	357	(4)
Notes on the Contributors	361