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Consent Withdrawal in Assisted Reproductive Technology and the Reconstitution of Reproductive Autonomy

Sujung Yoo 1

1이화여자대학교 생명의료법연구소

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The provisions of South Korea’s ‘Bioethics and Safety Act’ related to the creation of embryos using assisted reproductive technology allow for consent to be withdrawal at any stage in the process. However, in cases in which the creation of an embryo involves two individuals, the consent withdrawal of one participant may damage or infringe upon the other participant’s reproductive autonomy. In this article I argue that the provisions of the ‘Bioethics and Safety Act’ that allow for consent withdrawal at any time result from a tendency to identify informed consent with a flawed notion of autonomy, one that is found in the work of Beauchamp and Childress. The article criticizes this notion of autonomy and proposes relational concept of autonomy as a better alternative. Relational autonomy includes social, political, and even economic considerations in addition to individual relationships. Finally, this article suggests several methods to prevent conflicts from arising in the consent process for embryo creation.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.