Volume 23, Number 1, 2007
Articles
- Giving Away the "Gift of Life": Surrogacy and the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act - Rakhi Ruparelia
Through the recently passed Assisted Human Reproduction Act, Canada has chosen to explicitly prohibit commercial surrogacy, while remaining silent on the issue of noncommercial or "altruistic" surrogacy. Although concerns about surrogacy arrangements tend to be raised only in relation to commercial surrogacy, many of the issues in question are apposite to the altruistic context as well. Indeed, the potential for exploitation may be even greater in noncommercial surrogacy. The author argues that the present framework of viewing altruistic surrogacy as morally acceptable is based on a western ideal of women's ability to make decisions freely in the family. This ideal is not only inaccurate in the western family model, but is particularly problematic for cultures in which patriarchal norms relegate women to vulnerable and relatively powerless positions within the family and society as a whole. Ultimately, the new Canadian law represents a harmful policy choice for women of all communities because it explicitly condemns one form of surrogacy, while at the same time implicitly approving another potentially more dangerous form.
- When Mediation Fails Child Protection: Lessons for the Future - Linda Crush
Mediation is being increasingly advocated in child protection cases. The merits of child protection mediation (CPM) have been debated by both scholars and practitioners. Governments also see in CPM a means to control burgeoning child welfare costs. The practice of CPM, particularly in Canada, has fallen far short of the promise. No province has a working CPM model in place and there is considerable uncertainty about how best to proceed. Drawing on both the US and Canadian experiences with CPM, this paper highlights the actual and potential pitfalls and obstacles that confront the designers of a CPM program. Future programs need to take cognizance of the mistakes of the past, if Canada is to make a substantive break with its poor record to date of CPM planning and implementation.
Book Review
- Paul Nathanson & Katherine K. Young, Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination Against Men. (Montreal & Kingston: McGill/Queen's University Press, 2006). - Dorothy E. Chunn