Andrews, Lori B.

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Andrews, Lori B.

PERSONAL:

Born 1952; female. Education: Yale University, B.A., (summa cum laude), J.D., 1978.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, 565 West Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661-3691. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

American Bar Foundation, research fellow, 1980-92; Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, senior scholar, 1989—; Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, became Distinguished Professor of Law, director of the Institute of Science, Law and Technology, and associate vice president. Visiting professor, Princeton University, 2002. Taught health law courses at University of Houston Law Center, University of Chicago School of Law and School of Business; chair for Working Group on Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project. Consultant to organizations including the World Health Organization, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and the French National Assembly. Guest on television programs, including Nightline and Oprah.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named One of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America, National Law Journal, 1991.

WRITINGS:

Birth of a Salesman: Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation, ABA Press (Chicago, IL), 1980.

The Rights of Fair Trial and Free Press, ABA Press (Chicago, IL), 1981.

Deregulating Doctoring: Do Medical Licensing Laws Meet Today's Health Care Needs?, People's Medical Society (Emmaus, PA), 1983.

New Conceptions: A Consumer's Guide to the Newest Infertility Treatments, Including In Vitro Fertilization, Artificial Insemination, and Surrogate Motherhood, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1984.

(Editor) Legal Liability and Quality Assurance in Newborn Screening, American Bar Foundation (Chicago, IL), 1985.

State Laws and Regulations Governing Newborn Screening, American Bar Foundation (Chicago, IL), 1985.

Between Strangers: Surrogate Mothers, Expectant Fathers, and Brave New Babies, Harper & Row (New York, NY), 1989.

(Editor, with Jane E. Fullarton, Kathi E. Hanna, Neil A. Holtzman, and Arno G. Motulsky) Assessing Genetic Risks: Implications for Health and Social Policy, National Academy Press (Washington, DC), 1994.

Black Power, White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain (biography), Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor, with Bartha Maria Knoppers, Claude M. Laberge, and Maria Hirtle) Human DNA: Law and Policy, Kluwer Law International (The Netherlands), 1997.

The Clone Age: Adventures in the New World of Reproductive Technology, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Dorothy Nelkin) Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age, Crown (New York, NY), 2001.

Future Perfect: Confronting Decisions about Genetics, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Maxwell J. Mehlman and Mark A. Rothstein) Genetics: Ethics, Law, and Policy, West Group (St. Paul, MN), 2002, 2nd edition, 2006.

Sequence (novel), St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to books, including Behavioral Genetics and Society: The Clash of Culture and Biology, edited by M. Rothstein and R. Carson, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999; and Americans with Disabilities: Exploring Implications of the Law for Individuals and Institutions, edited by Francis and Anita Silvers, Routledge (New York, NY), 2000. Contributor of articles to journals and periodicals, including Salon.com, Orgyn, Legal Medicine, Chronicle of Higher Education, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, Pediatrics, New York Times Magazine, and New England Journal of Medicine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lori B. Andrews, a leading scholar in the field of health law, is known for her particular expertise in matters relating to new reproductive technologies. She has written numerous articles, book chapters, and monographs for specialists in these fields, as well as several books intended for general audiences.

Reviewers have praised the thoroughness and clarity with which Andrews explains complex medical procedures and legal implications in her books. In addition, they have noted her sensitivity to the often bewildering emotions and choices confronting infertile couples. In New Conceptions: A Consumer's Guide to the Newest Infertility Treatments, Including In Vitro Fertilization, Artificial Insemination, and Surrogate Motherhood, Andrews covers the physiology of infertility, the emotions it can provoke, and a range of alternative procedures available to would-be parents. Critics found the book a helpful guide. A writer for Kirkus Reviews hailed it as "sympathetic, informed … [and] distinctly ahead of others in the legal department." Booklist's Micaela D. Sullivan praised it as "a sensitive and expedient text," while Karen Jackson, in Library Journal, especially noted Andrews's attention to the emotional issues surrounding infertility and the possible environmental hazards to reproductive health.

In a subsequent book, Andrews focuses on the increasingly controversial subject of surrogate motherhood. By the time Between Strangers: Surrogate Mothers, Expect-ant Fathers, and Brave New Babies was published in 1989, Americans had become familiar with the difficult legal case involving "Baby M," a girl born to surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead in 1986. Whitehead had agreed to bear the child for Elizabeth and William Stern, who chose not to risk a biological pregnancy because Elizabeth Stern had multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease that pregnancy could worsen. After the baby was born, however, Whitehead changed her mind about relinquishing the infant, and a bitter legal battle ensued. The judge who decided the case in 1988 awarded custody to the Sterns but gave Whitehead liberal visitation rights. In Between Strangers, Andrews presents both the history of surrogate motherhood and personal stories from individuals who had made this choice. Though the book addresses the potential dilemmas that could stem from surrogate arrangements, Andrews argues that surrogacy should be permitted among consenting adults who pass medical and psychological screening tests.

Between Strangers received considerable attention from critics. Susan Chollar, in Psychology Today, appreciated Andrews's "intriguing insights" and thorough understanding of legal and political issues. Her book, noted Chollar, compels us to tackle issues of morality, ethics, law, and parental love. "Andrews challenges us," wrote Chollar, to weigh "whether the bond between a mother and child is qualitatively different, more permanent, or more compelling than the bond between a man and the child born of his seed." However, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Myron W. Conovitz disagreed with the position Andrews takes in the book. Conovitz suggested that allowing surrogate contracts to remain unregulated may not contribute to the well-being of those involved, especially the child. Nevertheless, Conovitz found Between Strangers "reasonably balanced" and containing "significant facts about the surrogate movement as it has evolved in this country."

Andrews continued her analysis of pioneering reproductive technologies in The Clone Age: Adventures in the New World of Reproductive Technology. Although she had advocated for new high-tech solutions in her previous work, in this book she opposes the cloning of human beings. Andrews argues that cloning, which produces genetic duplicates of an animal from one or more donor cells, creates social and legal problems that society is unprepared to confront. She further suggests that cloning is fundamentally different from other reproductive innovations. Critics noted that Andrews's experience serving as chair of the Working Group on the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project, from which she resigned because funding issues compromised the group's ability to function impartially, gave her an insider's perspective into the field and alerted her to the potential dangers of commercial interests' involvement in cloning. In the New York Times Book Review, John R.G. Turner recognized this influence, commenting that Andrews depicts research doctors and scientists in her book as "considerably greedy." Though Turner found this stance a bit harsh, and questioned Andrews's rejection of cloning as a reasonable reproductive alternative, he deemed The Clone Age "a fine and readable book" that is distinguished by its lucidity, humor, and sensitivity.

Andrews explores the repercussions of genetic screening in Future Perfect: Confronting Decisions about Genetics. As in her earlier works, she provides a realistic and readable look at the subject, pointing out the dangers associated with genetic screening as well as its benefits. Her book shows that already, genetic screening has negatively affected certain peoples' ability to gain employment and be approved for insurance. She examines the privacy issues inherent in genetic screening and shows how bias against women and ethnic minorities has already surfaced in connection with genetic screening. Noting that there are many books on this topic, a Library Journal reviewer nevertheless pointed out: "Andrews's legal insight and her ability to look beyond the superficial issues provide a breath of fresh air."

In addition to her many books on health law, Andrews wrote a biography of Black Panther leader Johnny Spain, who was convicted of a robbery-murder in 1966 at age seventeen and was incarcerated in San Quentin for twenty-two years. Reviewers considered Spain a fascinating subject: born to a black father and a white mother married to a white man, the boy spent his first years with his mother but was soon sent to California to be adopted by a black couple, with whom he spent an unhappy childhood. Radicalized by a prison experience exacerbated by institutionalized racism, Spain joined the Black Panthers and helped lead the organization from behind bars. After his parole in 1988, he became a community activist in San Francisco. Andrews's account of Spain's life, Black Power, White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain, received mixed reviews. In Booklist, June Vigor called the biography "gripping and inspiring," but also "uneven." A writer for Publishers Weekly commented that, despite describing "moments both sad and stirring," the book did not provide sufficient information about Spain's life after parole. And Paul Ruffins, writing in Washington Post Book World, criticized Andrews for a strong bias in favor of her subject. "Andrews … is so sympathetic to Spain that the book is essentially a memoir," he wrote. Noting that Andrews displayed good insights in the book but too often failed to pursue them in sufficient depth, Ruffins concluded: "Andrews is a fine stylist who makes us care about Spain and his suffering, but she diminishes her book by settling for reporting rather than analysis."

Andrews returned to her study of bioethics with The Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age. This book examines the social, psychological, and economic effects that could result from commercial trade in human tissue and organs. Although the physical worth of the chemicals and minerals making up the human body was once calculated to be less than one dollar, that value has skyrocketed as more and more technologies make use of human tissue. Blood, organs, and fetal tissue are all in demand, to the extent that a black market for them exists, and crimes have been committed to obtain them. Further ethical considerations are brought up by individuals who wish to use body parts as part of their artistic projects. Andrews and her coauthor, Dorothy Nelkin, pose questions about body ownership and other such issues in Body Bazaar. It is "a highly readable, extraordinarily researched book," according to Elizabeth M. Whelan in Insight on the News.

Andrews tried her hand at fiction in 2006 with the novel Sequence. It concerns a geneticist, Alexandra Blake, who reluctantly complies when her government employers tell her to set aside her research projects to help locate a serial killer. Alexandra, a quirky individualist who is the daughter of a deceased Vietnam War veteran, only wants to make progress on her gene-sequencing work, but when she finally puts her mind to unraveling the case, she proves to be an effective investigator. The author shows only "workmanlike" skill as a novelist, according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. Davit Pitt, writing in Booklist, pointed to a "somewhat amateurish" quality to the dialog and certain stylistic habits of the author, but concluded that Sequence "generates plenty of excitement."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1984, Micaela D. Sullivan, review of New Conceptions: A Consumer's Guide to the Newest Infertility Treatments, Including In Vitro Fertilization, Artificial Insemination, and Surrogate Motherhood, p. 658; June 1, 1996, June Vigor, review of Black Power, White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain, p. 1639; April 15, 1999, William Beatty, review of The Clone Age: Adventure in the New World of Reproductive Technology, p. 1487; January 1, 2001, Gilbert Taylor, review of Body Bazaar: The Market for Human Tissue in the Biotechnology Age, p. 879; March 15, 2001, Vernon Ford, review of Future Perfect: Confronting Decisions about Genetics, p. 1339; March 1, 2006, David Pitt, review of Sequence, p. 70.

Business Wire, March 21, 2000, "Lori Andrews, ‘Genetics Laureate,’ Joins Metamarkets Think Tank," p. 1138.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, March, 2001, Ellis Cashmore, "Black Culture: Scholarly Interest, or Unhealthy Obsession?," p. 318.

Insight on the News, May 28, 2001, Elizabeth M. Whelan, review of Body Bazaar, p. 27.

Journal of the American Medical Association, February 23, 1990, Myron W. Conovitz, review of Between Strangers: Surrogate Mothers, Expectant Fathers, and Brave New Babies, p. 1153.

Judicature, November, 1999, Dena S. Davis, review of The Clone Age, p. 162.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1983, review of New Conceptions, p. 1152; May 1, 2006, review of Sequence, p. 423.

Library Journal, January, 1984, Karen Jackson, review of New Conceptions, p. 103; June 1, 1999, Tina Neville, review of The Clone Age, p. 155; March 15, 2001, Tina Neville, review of Future Perfect, p. 100; June 1, 2006, Nanci Milone Hill, review of Sequence, p. 104.

New York Law Journal, September 8, 2006, Joan Ullman, review of Sequence.

New York Times Book Review, September 19, 1999, John R.G. Turner, review of The Clone Age, p. 14.

Psychology Today, June, 1989, Susan Chollar, review of Between Strangers, p. 76.

Publishers Weekly, May 20, 1986, review of Black Power, White Blood, p. 248; April 12, 1999, review of The Clone Age, p. 64; April 10, 2006, review of Sequence, p. 47.

Science News, February 28, 1998, Susan Milius, "Science Pokes Loopholes in Cloning Bans," p. 137.

Soujourners, March, 2000, Joseph Wakelee-Lynch, review of The Clone Age, p. 55.

Trial, July, 1999, "Genetics, Reproduction, and the Law" (interview with Lori B. Andrews), p. 20.

Washington Monthly, May, 2001, Jacob Heilbrunn, review of Body Bazaar, p. 56.

Washington Post, May 26, 1999, Jonathan Yardley, review of The Clone Age, p. C2.

Washington Post Book World, August 25, 1996, Paul Ruffins, "Another Soledad Brother," pp. 45.