Elizabeth Chloe Romanis
Biographic Data
| ID | 1734670 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth Chloe Romanis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth Chloe |
| FAMILY NAME | Romanis |
| SIGNATURE | ROMANIS E C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8774-4015 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Reproducing Guilt
Feelings of guilt have been reported by (formerly) pregnant people, for example, after miscarriage, stillbirth, induced abortion, or preterm birth. However, it is sometimes held that they should not feel that way. In this article, the authors (a) scrutinize attributions of guilt, (b) problematize philosophical approaches to guilt—especially Thomas Scanlon’s approach—and moral emotions more broadly, and (c) criticize such theoretical-normative int…
Mens Pregnancies and Nonbinary Pregnancies in The Law
The law surrounding pregnancy – regulating who can become pregnant with assisted procreation, who can end a pregnancy, and determining the legal consequences of a pregnancy for parental status – fails men and nonbinary people who can and do become pregnant. The law genders the pregnant person’s body at multiple sites of intervention – in determining who can access fertility treatment, in determining who can access abortion, and in determining the…
Legal Parenthood, Novel Reproductive Practices, and the Disruption of Reproductive Biosex
There are reproductive technologies on the horizon that challenge the fundamentals of human reproduction – the need for sperm, eggs, and someone to gestate the pregnancy. We argue that such technologies collectively undermine our conception of reproductive biosex as we know it. In this article, we (re)examine the attribution and determination of legal parenthood in assisted reproduction in light of such developments. The literature on these emerg…
Artificial placentas, pregnancy loss and loss-sensitive care
In this paper, we explore how the prospect of artificial placenta technology (nearing clinical trials in human subjects) should encourage further consideration of the loss experienced by individuals when their pregnancy ends unexpectedly. Discussions of pregnancy loss are intertwined with procreative loss, whereby the gestated entity has died when the pregnancy ends. However, we demonstrate how pregnancy loss can and does exist separate to procre…
Aapt, pregnancy loss and planning ahead
The commentaries in response to our paper are indicative of the varied perspectives that can be taken towards AAPT and more specifically its relationship with pregnancy (loss).Kennedy rightly argues that empirical research is essential for understanding the experiences of pregnancy loss and AAPT [1] and our own advocacy of empirical research is evident in previous work [2] [3] [4].Kennedy also acknowledges the current impossibility of researching…
Value sensitive design and the artificial placenta
Artificial placenta technologies (also termed ‘artificial wombs’) for use in place of conventional neonatal intensive care are increasingly closer to first-in-human use. There is growing ethical interest in partial ectogestation (the use of an artificial placenta to continue gestation of an underdeveloped human entity extra uterum), however, there has been little reflection on the ethical issues in the design of the technology. While some have no…
Translational or translationable? A call for ethno‐immersion in (empirical) bioethics research
The shift towards "empirical bioethics" was largely triggered by a recognition that stakeholders' views and experiences are vital in ethical analysis where one hopes to produce practicable recommendations. Such perspectives can provide a rich resource in bioethics scholarship, perhaps challenging the researcher's perspective. However, overreliance on a picture painted by a group of research participants—or on pre‐existing literature in that field…
All hands on deck
The COVID-19 pandemic raised significant challenges for in-person healthcare provision, leading healthcare providers to embrace digital health like never before. Whilst changes were made as part of a public health response, many have now become permanent fixtures of the healthcare landscape, significantly altering the way care is provided not only for patients, but also for the healthcare professionals that provide care. In abortion care in Engla…
Abortion Access and the Benefits and Limitations of Abortion- Permissive Legal Frameworks
This paper argues that abortion access is an important subject for bioethics scholarship and reflects on the relationship between legal frameworks and access to care. The author uses the example of the United Kingdom to examine the benefits and limitations of abortion- permissive legal frameworks in terms of access. These are legal frameworks that enable the provision of abortion but subject to restrictions. An abortion-permissive regime—first in…
Equality‐enhancing potential of novel forms of assisted gestation
Novel forms of assisted gestation—uterus transplantation and artificial placentas—are highly anticipated in the ethico‐legal literature for their capacity to enhance reproductive autonomy. There are also, however, significant challenges anticipated in the development of novel forms of assisted gestation. While there is a normative exploration of these challenges in the literature, there has not yet, to my knowledge, been empirical research undert…
Directed and conditional uterus donation
Uterus transplantation (UTx) is highly anticipated for the benefits that it might bring to individuals wanting to carry a pregnancy in order to reproduce who do not have a functioning uterus. The surgery—now having been performed successfully in several countries around the world—remains experimental. However, UTx is at some point expected to become a routine treatment for people without a uterus and considering themselves in need of one: women w…
Appropriately framing maternal request caesarean section
In their paper, ‘How to reach trustworthy decisions for caesarean sections on maternal request: a call for beneficial power’, Eide and Bærøe present maternal request caesarean sections (MRCS) as a site of conflict in obstetrics because birthing people are seeking access to a treatment ‘without any anticipated medical benefit’. While I agree with the conclusions of their paper -that there is a need to reform the approach to MRCS counselling to ens…
Assisted gestative technologies
A large body of literature considers the ethico-legal and regulatory issues surrounding assisted conception. Surrogacy, however, within this body of literature is an odd-fit. It involves a unique demand of another person—a form of reproductive labour—that many other aspects of assisted conception, such as gamete donation do not involve. Surrogacy is a form of assisted gestation. The potential alternatives for individuals who want a genetically re…
Twin pregnancy reduction is not an ‘all or nothing’ problem
In his paper, ‘Twin pregnancy, fetal reduction and the ‘all or nothing problem’, Räsänen sets out to apply Horton’s ‘all or nothing’ problem to the ethics of multifetal pregnancy reduction from a twin to a singleton pregnancy (2-to-1 MFPR). Horton’s problem involves the following scenario: imagine that two children are about to be crushed by a collapsing building. An observer would have three options: do nothing, save one child by allowing their …
Surrogacy and uterus transplantation using live donors
For females without a functioning womb, the only way to become a biological parent is via assisted gestation—either surrogacy or uterus transplantation (UTx). This paper examines the comparative impact of these options on two types of putative ‘womb‐givers’: people who provide gestational surrogacy and those who donate their uterus for live donation. The surrogate ‘leases’ their womb for the gestational period, while the UTx donor donates their w…
Developments in the provision of early medical abortion by telemedicine in the UK
Partial ectogenesis
In this commentary, I consider how Giulia Cavaliere’s arguments about the limited reach of the current justifications offered for full ectogenesis in the bioethical literature apply in the context of partial ectogenesis. I suggest that considering the extent to which partial ectogenesis is freedom or equality promoting is more urgent because of the more realistic prospect of artificial womb technology being utilised to facilitate partial gestatio…
Maternal request caesareans and Covid-19
It has recently been reported that some hospitals in the UK have placed a blanket restriction on the provision of maternal request caesarean sections (MRCS) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pregnancy and birthing services are obviously facing challenges during the current emergency, but we argue that a blanket ban on MRCS is both inappropriate and disproportionate. In this paper, we highlight the importance of MRCS for pregnant people’s heal…
Artificial Wombs and the Ectogenesis Conversation
Bioethics scholarship considering the possibility of gestating an embryo to full term in an artificial womb (ectogenesis) often overstates the capacities of current technologies and underestimates the barriers to the development of full ectogenesis. Moreover, this debate causes harm by (1) neglecting more immediate problems in the development of artificial wombs, (2) treating abortion as a “problem with a technological solution,” bolstering anti-…
Addressing Rising Cesarean Rates
The number of cesarean sections performed in high-income economies has been rising for decades. Feminist scholarship suggests that the likely explanation for this trend is defensive practice in obstetrics. In this paper, I argue that defensive practice harms women by depriving them of the power to choose their means of childbirth. This same harm is also evident when women are denied the opportunity to opt for maternal request cesarean (MRCS). Thu…
Mens Pregnancies and Nonbinary Pregnancies in The Law
The law surrounding pregnancy – regulating who can become pregnant with assisted procreation, who can end a pregnancy, and determining the legal consequences of a pregnancy for parental status – fails men and nonbinary people who can and do become pregnant. The law genders the pregnant person’s body at multiple sites of intervention – in determining who can access fertility treatment, in determining who can access abortion, and in determining the…
Legal Parenthood, Novel Reproductive Practices, and the Disruption of Reproductive Biosex
There are reproductive technologies on the horizon that challenge the fundamentals of human reproduction – the need for sperm, eggs, and someone to gestate the pregnancy. We argue that such technologies collectively undermine our conception of reproductive biosex as we know it. In this article, we (re)examine the attribution and determination of legal parenthood in assisted reproduction in light of such developments. The literature on these emerg…
All hands on deck
The COVID-19 pandemic raised significant challenges for in-person healthcare provision, leading healthcare providers to embrace digital health like never before. Whilst changes were made as part of a public health response, many have now become permanent fixtures of the healthcare landscape, significantly altering the way care is provided not only for patients, but also for the healthcare professionals that provide care. In abortion care in Engla…
Partial ectogenesis
In this commentary, I consider how Giulia Cavaliere’s arguments about the limited reach of the current justifications offered for full ectogenesis in the bioethical literature apply in the context of partial ectogenesis. I suggest that considering the extent to which partial ectogenesis is freedom or equality promoting is more urgent because of the more realistic prospect of artificial womb technology being utilised to facilitate partial gestatio…
Maternal request caesareans and Covid-19
It has recently been reported that some hospitals in the UK have placed a blanket restriction on the provision of maternal request caesarean sections (MRCS) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pregnancy and birthing services are obviously facing challenges during the current emergency, but we argue that a blanket ban on MRCS is both inappropriate and disproportionate. In this paper, we highlight the importance of MRCS for pregnant people’s heal…
Artificial Wombs and the Ectogenesis Conversation
Bioethics scholarship considering the possibility of gestating an embryo to full term in an artificial womb (ectogenesis) often overstates the capacities of current technologies and underestimates the barriers to the development of full ectogenesis. Moreover, this debate causes harm by (1) neglecting more immediate problems in the development of artificial wombs, (2) treating abortion as a “problem with a technological solution,” bolstering anti-…
Addressing Rising Cesarean Rates
The number of cesarean sections performed in high-income economies has been rising for decades. Feminist scholarship suggests that the likely explanation for this trend is defensive practice in obstetrics. In this paper, I argue that defensive practice harms women by depriving them of the power to choose their means of childbirth. This same harm is also evident when women are denied the opportunity to opt for maternal request cesarean (MRCS). Thu…
Surrogacy and uterus transplantation using live donors
For females without a functioning womb, the only way to become a biological parent is via assisted gestation—either surrogacy or uterus transplantation (UTx). This paper examines the comparative impact of these options on two types of putative ‘womb‐givers’: people who provide gestational surrogacy and those who donate their uterus for live donation. The surrogate ‘leases’ their womb for the gestational period, while the UTx donor donates their w…
Developments in the provision of early medical abortion by telemedicine in the UK
Directed and conditional uterus donation
Uterus transplantation (UTx) is highly anticipated for the benefits that it might bring to individuals wanting to carry a pregnancy in order to reproduce who do not have a functioning uterus. The surgery—now having been performed successfully in several countries around the world—remains experimental. However, UTx is at some point expected to become a routine treatment for people without a uterus and considering themselves in need of one: women w…
Appropriately framing maternal request caesarean section
In their paper, ‘How to reach trustworthy decisions for caesarean sections on maternal request: a call for beneficial power’, Eide and Bærøe present maternal request caesarean sections (MRCS) as a site of conflict in obstetrics because birthing people are seeking access to a treatment ‘without any anticipated medical benefit’. While I agree with the conclusions of their paper -that there is a need to reform the approach to MRCS counselling to ens…
Assisted gestative technologies
A large body of literature considers the ethico-legal and regulatory issues surrounding assisted conception. Surrogacy, however, within this body of literature is an odd-fit. It involves a unique demand of another person—a form of reproductive labour—that many other aspects of assisted conception, such as gamete donation do not involve. Surrogacy is a form of assisted gestation. The potential alternatives for individuals who want a genetically re…
Twin pregnancy reduction is not an ‘all or nothing’ problem
In his paper, ‘Twin pregnancy, fetal reduction and the ‘all or nothing problem’, Räsänen sets out to apply Horton’s ‘all or nothing’ problem to the ethics of multifetal pregnancy reduction from a twin to a singleton pregnancy (2-to-1 MFPR). Horton’s problem involves the following scenario: imagine that two children are about to be crushed by a collapsing building. An observer would have three options: do nothing, save one child by allowing their …
Abortion Access and the Benefits and Limitations of Abortion- Permissive Legal Frameworks
This paper argues that abortion access is an important subject for bioethics scholarship and reflects on the relationship between legal frameworks and access to care. The author uses the example of the United Kingdom to examine the benefits and limitations of abortion- permissive legal frameworks in terms of access. These are legal frameworks that enable the provision of abortion but subject to restrictions. An abortion-permissive regime—first in…
Equality‐enhancing potential of novel forms of assisted gestation
Novel forms of assisted gestation—uterus transplantation and artificial placentas—are highly anticipated in the ethico‐legal literature for their capacity to enhance reproductive autonomy. There are also, however, significant challenges anticipated in the development of novel forms of assisted gestation. While there is a normative exploration of these challenges in the literature, there has not yet, to my knowledge, been empirical research undert…
Artificial placentas, pregnancy loss and loss-sensitive care
In this paper, we explore how the prospect of artificial placenta technology (nearing clinical trials in human subjects) should encourage further consideration of the loss experienced by individuals when their pregnancy ends unexpectedly. Discussions of pregnancy loss are intertwined with procreative loss, whereby the gestated entity has died when the pregnancy ends. However, we demonstrate how pregnancy loss can and does exist separate to procre…
Aapt, pregnancy loss and planning ahead
The commentaries in response to our paper are indicative of the varied perspectives that can be taken towards AAPT and more specifically its relationship with pregnancy (loss).Kennedy rightly argues that empirical research is essential for understanding the experiences of pregnancy loss and AAPT [1] and our own advocacy of empirical research is evident in previous work [2] [3] [4].Kennedy also acknowledges the current impossibility of researching…
Value sensitive design and the artificial placenta
Artificial placenta technologies (also termed ‘artificial wombs’) for use in place of conventional neonatal intensive care are increasingly closer to first-in-human use. There is growing ethical interest in partial ectogestation (the use of an artificial placenta to continue gestation of an underdeveloped human entity extra uterum), however, there has been little reflection on the ethical issues in the design of the technology. While some have no…
Translational or translationable? A call for ethno‐immersion in (empirical) bioethics research
The shift towards "empirical bioethics" was largely triggered by a recognition that stakeholders' views and experiences are vital in ethical analysis where one hopes to produce practicable recommendations. Such perspectives can provide a rich resource in bioethics scholarship, perhaps challenging the researcher's perspective. However, overreliance on a picture painted by a group of research participants—or on pre‐existing literature in that field…
All hands on deck
The COVID-19 pandemic raised significant challenges for in-person healthcare provision, leading healthcare providers to embrace digital health like never before. Whilst changes were made as part of a public health response, many have now become permanent fixtures of the healthcare landscape, significantly altering the way care is provided not only for patients, but also for the healthcare professionals that provide care. In abortion care in Engla…
Legal Parenthood, Novel Reproductive Practices, and the Disruption of Reproductive Biosex
There are reproductive technologies on the horizon that challenge the fundamentals of human reproduction – the need for sperm, eggs, and someone to gestate the pregnancy. We argue that such technologies collectively undermine our conception of reproductive biosex as we know it. In this article, we (re)examine the attribution and determination of legal parenthood in assisted reproduction in light of such developments. The literature on these emerg…
Reproducing Guilt
Feelings of guilt have been reported by (formerly) pregnant people, for example, after miscarriage, stillbirth, induced abortion, or preterm birth. However, it is sometimes held that they should not feel that way. In this article, the authors (a) scrutinize attributions of guilt, (b) problematize philosophical approaches to guilt—especially Thomas Scanlon’s approach—and moral emotions more broadly, and (c) criticize such theoretical-normative int…
Mens Pregnancies and Nonbinary Pregnancies in The Law
The law surrounding pregnancy – regulating who can become pregnant with assisted procreation, who can end a pregnancy, and determining the legal consequences of a pregnancy for parental status – fails men and nonbinary people who can and do become pregnant. The law genders the pregnant person’s body at multiple sites of intervention – in determining who can access fertility treatment, in determining who can access abortion, and in determining the…
Political science (15 works) · Pregnancy (15 works) · Law (13 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Biology (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Reproductive Health and Technologies (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare (7 works) · Psychology (7 works)