The limits of evidence: evidence based policy and the removal of gamete donor anonymity in the UK

Monash Bioethics Review
L Frith

Abstract

This paper will critically examine the use of evidence in creating policy in the area of reproductive technologies. The use of evidence in health care and policy is not a new phenomenon. However, codified strategies for evidence appraisal in health care technology assessments and attempts to create evidence based policy initiatives suggest that the way evidence is used in practice and policy has changed. This paper will examine this trend by considering what is counted as 'good' evidence, difficulties in translating evidence into policy and practice and how evidence interacts with principles. To illustrate these points the removal of gamete donor anonymity in the UK in 2005 and the debates that preceded this change in the law will be examined. It will be argued that evidence will only ever take us so far and attention should also be paid to the underlying principles that guide policy. The paper will conclude with suggestions for how underlying principles can be more rigorously used in policy formation.

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Citations

Mar 31, 2015·Reproductive Biomedicine Online·Pim M W JanssensJackson C Kirkman-Brown
Nov 17, 2017·Sociology of Health & Illness·Lucy FrithOlga van den Akker
Jun 27, 2021·Journal of Medical Ethics·Sandra Pinto da SilvaSusana Silva

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