Russell T. Daley, California State University, Long Beach
Recently, a few supposed "good" (i.e., non-sexist) reasons have been offered to justify the ethical permissibility of preconception sex selection (PSS). I will argue that outside of medical reasons, such as avoiding sex-specific inheritable diseases, there are no non-sexist reasons for PSS and, based on this, PSS should be restricted. However, some argue that the value of reproductive autonomy outweighs any harmful effects of PSS including those of sexist discrimination. I will counter that while such autonomy should be respected, it should also be overridden when individual actions will likely adversely effect the whole of society. Additionally, I will seek to show that because unrestricted use of PSS has the effect of fostering gender stereotypes and of slowing gender equality that it is especially ironic that the autonomy of women in reproductive rights is held as the feminist reason to allow PSS.