Reproductive autonomy as self-making: Procreative liberty and the practice of ethical subjectivity (2013)

Mills, C.
Reproductive autonomy as self-making: Procreative liberty and the practice of ethical subjectivity
(2013) Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (United Kingdom), 38 (6), pp. 639-656.

Abstract
In this article, I consider recent debates on the notion of procreative liberty, to argue that reproductive freedom can be understood as a form of positive freedom-that is, the freedom to make oneself according to various ethical and aesthetic principles or values. To make this argument, I draw on Michel Foucault’s later work, on ethics. Both adopting and adapting Foucault’s notion of ethics as a practice of the self and of liberty, I argue that reproductive autonomy requires enactment to gain meaning within the life contexts of prospective parents. Thus, I propose a shift away from the standard negative model of freedom that sees it solely as a matter of noninterference or nonimpedance, a view advocated by major commentators such as John Harris and John Robertson. Instead, reproduction should be understood as a deeply personal project of self-making that integrates both negative and positive freedom.

Author Keywords
Autonomy; Ethics of the self michel foucault; Reproductive liberty

DOI: 10.1093/jmp/jht046