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Principles of biomedical ethics
Ethics in research
Ethics in research
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How far is too far? Some parents will go to the extremes in order to save their sick child. If I had an ill child I would try my best to save her. The fact is most parents love their children, and, it’s just a matter of how far is too far. It’s hard to say what I would do if my daughter was sick. But I know in my heart creating another child to “fix” her, would be wrong. In this case I am against making one life to save another. In my opinion it is not the way to fix this problem. I have discovered many cases where the parents made the conscious decision to bring another life into the world to save their sick child’s life. Would you choose to have a savior baby? In this paper, we will discuss some cases in which different families have decided to use this method to try to save their chronically ill child. By the end of this paper you will be able to take the information that is being presented and determine which side you stand on.
As stated on "What Is a Savior Sibling, and What Is Your View on Using IVF to Make Them? A “savior sibling” is the creation of a genetically matched human being, in order to save the life of a sick child in need of a donor. This requires creating a human embryo in a test tube, using the sperm from the father to fertilize the mother’s eggs. Then the embryos that are deemed genetically compatible will be implanted into the mother’s womb, where the embryo will grow and develop. Once the baby has been delivered, the cord blood is collected, which then will be used for the sick sibling. Down the road for this “Savior baby” lays multiple surgeries, where bone marrow, blood, and often organs, will be taken and used to benefit the sick sibling. Savior siblings are already being practiced in the United States...
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.../www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/31/health/main326728.shtml>.
"IVF/PGD and Bone Marrow Transplant - Risks and Safety Issues." Savior Siblings. Web. 09 Sept. 2011. .
"My Sister's Savior | The Center for Bioethics and Culture." The Center for Bioethics and Culture | Thoughts on the Role of Science, Technology, and Medicine for the Human Future, and Uses That Promote Human Flourishing and the Common Good. The Views Expressed Here Acknowledge Belief in the Inviolability of Human Life and the Dignity of All Human Beings. Web. 09 Sept. 2011. .
"What Is a Savior Sibling, and What Is Your View on Using IVF to Make Them? - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 08 Sept. 2011. .
...s driven by non-maleficence, or the intent to “do no harm”. They know that withholding treatment for religious beliefs will potentially be fatal to both. While Maria is acting out of loyalty to her religious beliefs, the medical staff is acting out of loyalty to the patient’s well being and that of her unborn child. It would be unfair if no party were acting on behalf of that child. In conclusion, providers in this case must pursue every option in delivering life saving treatment for this child. This may involve legal action. If it were just Maria providers may attempt to influence her decision, but ultimately it would be up to her to refuse suggested treatment. Since her decision affects the life of the baby providers are called upon to save that child .
This case was taken into the British court system where, after a long trial, a judge upheld the doctor’s decision not to resuscitate. The reasoning was that the judge felt he could not order the doctors to perform actions that would cause increased suffering for the child. After considering the doctrines of the sanctity of life and the...
In kilner’s case study “Having a baby the new-fashioned way”, present a story that can be relatable to a lot of families struggling to have a child. This is a dilemma that can be controversial and ethical in own sense. The couple that were discussed in the case study were Betty and Tom. Betty and Tom who are both in their early forties who have struggled to bear children. Dr. Ralph Linstra from Liberty University believes that “Fertility can be taken for granted”. Dr. Ralph talks about how many couples who are marriage may run into an issue of bearing a child and turn to “medical science” to fix the issue. He discusses that “God is author of life and he can open and close the womb”. That in it’s self presents how powerful God.
Imagine…the birth of a human being into the world. 9 months of endless anticipation leading to someone’s first chance at seeing the world for the first time. While some enjoy the result of a pregnancy, leading to a new human being entering life, some are not so fond, or just can’t be in such a situation. Abortion is the supposed “cure” to this problem and is, for the most part, done safely. However, one of the factors stopping someone from committing an abortion is the consideration of moral status on the child.
In the text “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Connor, a common mood emerges from the somewhat humorous yet unfortunate work. A mood of grotesqueness among the characters and overall story as it presents itself, generally, making the audience feel quite uneasy and uncomfortable while reading it. Grotesque is a literary style, which comically and somewhat repulsively represents a distorted character or a series of twisted actions or thoughts that embody a character. The text creates a grotesque mood simply because the actions carried out by the characters resemble an extreme sense of despair and uneasiness, yet the way in which it is executed is somewhat funny and jocular to the reader, therefore creating an awkward overall mood
The fight against diseases, especially these serious diseases causing untold suffering for many people, must be continuous and heroic. Fetal tissue use has a promising hope for people in their old age to be and live more sustainable. Even though fetal research does not hold the certainty but only a possibility of cures for such diseases, such possibilities should be realized if one has the resources and there is no moral impediment to doing so. But that remains the question. Is there a moral impediment to such research? ...
Recent high profile cases, films and books all around the world including the UK, Australia and the United States have brought to the public’s attention a new type of IVF. ‘Embryo Selection’ meaning ‘Embryos are fertilised outside the body and only those with certain genes are selected and implanted in the womb.’ Henceforth meaning that doctors are now able to select specific embryo’s and implant them into the mother of who may have another sick child in order to gain genetic material such as bone marrow which will match the ill-fated child and therefore hopefully be able to save their life. Creating a ‘saviour sibling’. ‘A child conceived through selective in vitro fertilization as a potential source of donor organs or cells for an existing brother or sister with a life-threatening medical condition’ a definition given by Oxford Dictionaries (1.0). Cases of this are happening all around the globe and many are highly documented about. The most famous case could be noted as in the fictional book of ‘My Sisters Keeper’ By Jodi Picoult. I will further discuss this throughout my dissertation and how books and films can affect the view on certain ethical subjects. Furthermore, I am also going to discuss a range of factors such as certain religious beliefs and the physical creation of saviour siblings compared to the creation of designer babies. Strong views are held by many both for and against the creation of saviour siblings.
What is the morality of a lie? Morality and ethics is a topic widely discussed in philosophy. There is a distinctive difference in the perspectives of ethics held by Kantians and those who hold a utilitarian view of ethics. Kantians believe that the ethical standpoint of a decision be made purely on the decision itself, whereas
A few weeks ago The New York Times published the article Hopeful Start for First Uterus Transplant in the U.S. The article talks about the candidate who will be receiving the first uterus transplant and the expected outcome (Grady). This is exciting news for many women in the United States, but there are a few people that don’t share the excitement. Although there have been uterus transplants performed in other countries before, bioethical issues still arise. There have been some heated debates on this issue in the past, and both the supporting and opposing sides make good points. The truth of the matter is that even though there is risks uterus transplants can benefit women and medicine a great deal.
The omnipotent promise of ART, coupled with parents’ deep desires to have their “own child”, overwhelms and overshadows the capacity to think, sometimes with tragic consequences. We see parents who relied on reproductive technologies to conceive now expect other technologies will rescue and maintain their babies. It is heartbreaking to hear NICU parents wonder if their pregnancy would have been healthier and the baby more likely to thrive if they had transferred only one embryo. Or listen to them worry that it was the selective reduction from quads to twins that brought on the premature labor and then birth at only 25 weeks.
I believe that parents are not morally justified in having a child merely to provide life saving medical treatment to another child or family member, but that this does not mean that the creation of savior siblings is morally impermissible. By having a child solely to provide life saving medical treatment, you are treating this child merely as a means rather than an end to the individual child. By having the child solely as a means to save another, you are violating this savior sibling in that you are treating them as a source of spare parts that can be used by the sickly child in order to solely promote the prolonged life of the currently sick child. This view that having a child merely as a way to provide medical treatment does not consider the multitude of other avenues that this newborn child can take, and presupposes that the child will only be used for the single purpose of providing life saving medical treatment through use of stems cells or organ donation. What this view fails to consider is that these savior siblings are valued by families for so much more than just as a human bag of good cells and organs that can be used to save the life of the original child. Instead, these savior siblings can be valued as normal children themselves, in that they can be valued in the same way that any other child who is born is valued, yet at the same time they will also be able to provide life-saving treatment to their sibling. My view runs parallel to the view held by Claudia Mills who argues that it is acceptable to have a savior sibling, yet at the same time we can not have a child for purely instrumental motives, and instead should more so value the child for the intrinsic worth that they have. Mills presents her argument by puttin...
The addition of a child into a family’s home is a happy occasion. Unfortunately, some families are unable to have a child due to unforeseen problems, and they must pursue other means than natural pregnancy. Some couples adopt and other couples follow a different path; they utilize in vitro fertilization or surrogate motherhood. The process is complicated, unreliable, but ultimately can give the parents the gift of a child they otherwise could not have had. At the same time, as the process becomes more and more advanced and scientists are able to predict the outcome of the technique, the choice of what child is born is placed in the hands of the parents. Instead of waiting to see if the child had the mother’s eyes, the father’s hair or Grandma’s heart problem, the parents and doctors can select the best eggs and the best sperm to create the perfect child. Many see the rise of in vitro fertilization as the second coming of the Eugenics movement of the 19th and early 20th century. A process that is able to bring joy to so many parents is also seen as deciding who is able to reproduce and what child is worthy of birthing.
Babies clearly cannot comprehend the situation they face. A child should have the opportunity to live and fulfill the life that they have been granted. Limiting one’s life simply because it currently does not promise prosperity is an action that cannot be pardoned. The proper measures must be taken to ensure the longest life possible for children. Babies who become extremely ill at a young age deserve the opportunity to have a life. The chance that their lives may be hindered by the strain of medical attention and complications does not vindicate the choice that they should die, because there is hope for a prosperous outcome. According to Kathlyn Gay, assisted suicide “…ignores the possibility that a person’s life might be improved…” (Gay, 2016, para. 2). By eliminating the chance of proceeding any further, there is no way to know what could have resulted, and that is what makes the choice of death morally wrong. Regardless of age, it is unfair to terminate a life when one is incapable of expressing his or her aspirations on the
Parker, Michael. "The Best Possible Child." Journal of Medical Ethics 33.5 (2007): 279-283. Web. 1 Apr 2011. .
As a young adult, it may seem foolish to predict what your future family life will look like, especially in regards to children. Often times this reality is forced upon a select few, particularly homosexual couples; however, with the innovation of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a couple is met with promise and the hope of a successful family life. IVF can be described as a process by which a fetus is genetically formed in a laboratory setting. Though this process may seem unnatural in essence, it allows for a more diverse family arrangement through medical innovation. This procedure, though controversial, is seen by many as an advancement in the medical field and can be accredited to procuring a healthy child for an unfortunate family, whether