Two books on the intersections between ethics and the environment by former Fellow Dr Cristina S. Richie will soon be published.
In Environmental Ethics and Medical Reproduction (Oxford University Press 2024), Richie evaluates "medicalized reproduction" (MR) from an environmental perspective. From pre-conception gamete retrieval to in-vitro fertilization (IVF), to birthing suites, MR has an enormous carbon footprint. But, unlike other areas of high-carbon health care, such as organ transplantation or chemotherapy, medicalized reproduction does not treat, cure, or prevent disease. It is supported by an economized medical industry, and as such, is open for ethical scrutiny. The book will be released on 24 March.
MR is, very often, a lifestyle procedure that is given to meet a reproductive project. Its purpose is not necessarily to address, cure, or treat infertility but to provide options in reproduction for both infertile and fertile. MR is thus poised for environmental evaluation not only as a procedure which increases population and uses resources, but also as a healthcare offering with clinically unnecessary carbon expenditure, and a reproductive choice in a time of climate change. The book offers an applied ethics at the nexus of environmental ethics, medical ethics, and sexual ethics.
Environmental bioethics addresses the environmental impact of the health care industry and climate change health hazards as two ethical issues which impact each other. Environmental Bioethics Theory and Practice for Environmentally Sustainable Health Care (Routledge 2024) edited by Richie, examines the theory of environmental bioethics and offers practical examples of practices which make healthcare more sustainable. The collection is published on 4 April.
Written in an accessible style which allows readers to understand what environmental bioethics is and why it is important, this book presents real-life case studies and thoughtful reflections from leading doctors, clinicians, and ethicists. Contributions to this volume address ethical frameworks for environmental bioethics and delve into the role of doctors in environmentally sustainable health care. Together, they offer hope for a more sustainable health care industry while also recognizing how much more needs to be done.
A key resource for scholars, practitioners and researchers of philosophy, environmental studies, public health, and the allied health sciences, this book will also be relevant to international policymakers, especially in countries which have socialized health care (such as those in the EU), who want a rationale for health care decarbonization and practical examples. It will also appeal to educated citizens, particularly those that demand positive environmental change and are interested in the concept of sustainable health care.
A launch event on 10 April in collaboration with the Centre for Technomoral Futures will be announced shortly.
Cristina S. Richie is Lecturer of Ethics of Technology at the University of Edinburgh. She has previously held positions as Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics at Delft University of Technology (2020-23), Assistant Professor in Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University (2017-20), and Visiting Assistant Professor in Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School (2019).
