Baby on Board? An Examination of the Likelihood of the New Zealand Courts Granting Female Prisoners the Right to IVF Treatment

Abstract

Some commentators have described the reluctance of prison officials to grant prisoners the right to reproductive technologies, such as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), while imprisoned, as “modern-day eugenics”. Alternatively it could be argued that granting prisoners the use of reproductive technologies is an appalling diversion of prison resources and contrary to sentencing principles of punishment and deterrence. The case of Castles v Secretary to the Department of Justice (Castles), in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2010, is an interesting example of the competing interests operating in any penal system. The decision deals with to what extent the state is required to ensure the fulfilment of a prisoner’s reproductive rights, especially in the face of ever diminishing prison resources.