John A. Robertson holds the Vinson and Elkins Chair at The University of Texas School of Law

University of Texas School of Law

The University of Texas School of Law, also known as UT Law, is an ABA-certified American law school located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The law school has been in operation since the founding of the University in 1883. It was one of only two schools at the University when it was...

. He has written and lectured widely on law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and bioethical

Bioethics

Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....

 issues.

Robertson is the author of two books on bioethics, The Rights of the Critically Ill and Children of Choice: Freedom and the New Reproductive Technologies, and numerous articles on reproductive rights

Reproductive rights

Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...

, genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....

, organ transplantation, and human experimentation

Human experimentation

Human subject research includes experiments and observational studies. Human subjects are commonly participants in research on basic biology, clinical medicine, nursing, psychology, and all other social sciences. Humans have been participants in research since the earliest studies...

.

He has served on, or been a consultant to, many national bioethics advisory bodies, and is currently Chair of the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Robertson is a fellow of the Hastings Center

Hastings Center

The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...

, an independent bioethics research institution.

See also

• Procreative liberty