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Recommended: ethical issues for organ donation

The author here raises the ethical question about the Baby Theresa case notably; is it acceptable to sacrifice a life with no prospects for a future in order to save another life or several other lives? The author seems to point to the possible altruistic act on the part of the parents in having the baby’s life ended before her life would have ended surely and eventually anyway due to a rare and fatal condition with no possibility of recovery or reversal of this fate. Many physicians agreed with the parents and they recognized the need for organs for other infants, who might otherwise perish. Professional “ethicists” did not agree with this decision and used basic philosophical tenets to hold no life as more important than the life of another. As well, Florida law was on the side of these ethicists and law did no allow for the newborn’s organs to be harvested before natural death occurred. The problem here was that the newborn was going to die anyway and when she did nine days later, the organs had deteriorated to the point of being of no use to other newborns in need. However there are other questions as to the motives of the parents and the doctors, as well as the stance of most of the ethicists that align with the law. The author seems genuinely surprised when the ethicists disagree with the decision that the parents make and the physicians agree upon the case. It is stated that “surprisingly few” agree with them and the fact this author is surprised seems to show support for the decision made by these parents; a decision that is not allowed legally to be made and was ethically stated as being “horrendous” by one such ethicist and “horrifying” by another. This seems to paint an overall picture of the ethicists being t... ... middle of paper ... ... Though it is easy to become emotional about such a topic, it is not just about the Baby Theresa case, it is about legal precedent and the domino effect of such a decision if it were to have gone the other way. Examples were brought up previously that I believe could have been mentioned in connection with the original case. If a person with cancer or another terminal illness accelerates their demise via Euthanasia in order to save another, would this be acceptable? Who can be deemed fit to kill or less emotive terms “accelerate death”? What about a serial murderer or a leader of national genocide? One might, in an emotional state, say these are people not fit to live and that in their hastened demise, many people would benefit. This is just the point, decisions cannot be made in an emotional state and these decisions are best left up to the law and ethicists.

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