Mary Guzman's Case Summary

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By observing the details of Mary Guzman’s case, the ethical theory of casuistry and femininity are applied to Dr. Patel’s situation. In casuistry ethics, every case is viewed individually, and there is no clear set of rules that apply to all cases on determining actions moral or immoral. One of the most important aspects of Mary Guzman’s case is that she is a woman who values her uterus as a symbolism of womanhood. Dr. Patel makes the assumption that since Mary Guzman already has three teenage children, she has no desire to get pregnant again. Although Mary confirms this assumption, Dr. Patel also falsely assumes that not wanting anymore children justifies the action of removing Mary’s uterus. This plays into a feminine ethical concern Susan …show more content…

Patel seems to want to control and limit Mary Guzman’s ability to give birth in order to provide what he considers the safest treatment. Mary should have every right to keep her uterus even if the complications of keeping it outweigh the complications of a hysterectomy. Thus through a feminist theory, Dr. Patel can see Mary’s autonomous decision to keep her uterus as valid in this context, and he should not try to convince his patient to have a hysterectomy. This is important because a doctor’s words can have a huge impact on a patient’s decision which can limit the patient’s autonomy. To illustrate, a study questioning 104 women before they had a hysterectomy stated that “Women's perceptions of the decision-making process, including the way their doctors communicated with them, did impinge on their views of the course of action selected. Some women had residual doubts about the appropriateness of hysterectomy” (Skea et al.). A doctor’s words are powerful because they are the professional in this social interaction. Therefore, Dr. Patel must understand that when explaining the treatment options to Mary, he must be sure not to allow his implicit bias towards the hysterectomy impact the way he informs Mary

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