Abstract
Analysis of the embryo and foetus as, ‘gothic’. This label is used to describe the characteristics of the embryo/foetus as an as yet unformed human being. Thus, it has also been regarded as, according to observers writing in the fields of sociology and cultural studies, monstrous, abhuman, and liminal. The embryo/foetus is also ‘gothic’, as it is by its very nature in the process of transforming. Thus, it is also seen as metamorphic, undifferentiated, fragmented, and permeable. As a result of this, Ford argues, the law has been able to reject and cast out this abnormal Other and permit abortion and embryo research and, in regard to neonates, the separation of the conjoined twins.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Legal, Medical and Cultural Regulation of the Body |
| Subtitle of host publication | Transformation and Transgression |
| Editors | Stephen W. Smith, Ronan Deazley |
| Pages | 21-46 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2009 |
Keywords
- medical law
- foetus
- human body
- reproduction
- bodily transformation
- ethics
