Maureen McTeer, Lawyer and Author
Topic: Fertility: 40 Years of Change
Maureen McTeer is an influential role model and leading advocate for gender equality, women’s health and reproductive rights in Canada. She is the author of the newly released book FERTILITY: 40 Years of Change, which explores the use and development of reproductive and genetic technologies and Canada’s response to the challenges and opportunities they offer. An original member of the federal Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, and a member of the Global Commission on Pollution, Health and Development, she works to ensure citizen engagement and inclusion in the discussions and debates on major health issues where science and society intersect.
As an expert on medical law and public policy, she has been a Visiting Scholar in the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley and at Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C., and has lectured as a visiting professor at universities in Canada. She is the author of four best-selling books, including a historical book Residences: Homes of Canada’s Leaders; a book for students on Canada’s Parliamentary system, Parliament: Canada’s Democracy and how it Works; a personal memoir In My Own Name; and a law and policy book on ethical and legal challenges raised by science and technology, Tough Choices: Living and Dying in the 21st Century.
She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa, (BA, and LLB), Dalhousie University (LLM in Health law), and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom (MA in Biotechnological Law and Ethics). She was the first graduate of Dalhousie University’s Health Law Institute; and has been awarded honorary degrees, from the University of Sheffield, Carleton University, Athabasca University, and Acadia University.
A lifelong volunteer, Ms. McTeer urges others to volunteer to make their communities stronger. Leading by example, she has served on many not-for-profit Boards in Canada.
