Religion, Feminism and Abortion: The Regulation of Assisted Reproduction in Two Catholic Countries

Abstract

Perspectives on abortion and religious values have been two primary influences on the development of the various regulatory regimes that govern assisted reproduction around the world. This article examines why two countries with similar histories of allegiance to Roman Catholicism have developed highly divergent legal regimes to regulate assisted reproduction. Italy has enacted one of the most restrictive regimes known, Spain one of the most permissive. The comparative analysis employed here will afford insight into how the development of legislative responses to assisted reproduction correlate with religious commitments, feminist sentiment and the regulation of abortion. This article concludes with a discussion of what implications its analysis might have for the regulation of the infertility industry in the United States.

Keywords: assisted reproduction, abortion, religion, feminism, legislation, legislative process, Italy, Spain, Holy See, Vatican, Catholicism, United States, Protestantism, physicians, therapeutic cultures, biomedical regulation, comparative regulation