Tag Archives: Bioethics

First Draft perplexity

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This paper was difficult for me because I just didn’t know where or how to start. It didn’t make much sense to me at all as I read over the prompt and what we were supposed to do. Even when I finally got it, it took me just as long if not longer to start of writing my paper. I’m nervous on how my paper as a whole turned out. Was I persuasive enough? Did I get my message across? Was it ven grammatically correct?! These are just a few things that pop into my head as I write any papers and especially after I hand in the first draft.

After I finished writing, I read over my essay and basically my face was just like that meme Phil put up in his blog, I had no idea what I just wrote. I revised it numerous times until I was satisfied, but those same questions lingered. I am just awaiting how my first draft did to see if hopefully the answers to my inquires are positive or negative and take it from there.

The Heart of the Matter: Insensitivity towards other Species

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Is a human life considered more valuable than every other type of life on the planet? This is the type of question that ethics presents to situations in the scientific world for proposed “advancements” by using animals as mere tools. The action introduced in the article “The Heart of the Matter” is to use Chimpanzee hearts to “build a ‘bridge'” for heart transplant patients so they can live a bit longer until they are able to obtain a human heart of their own for permanent use. The problem that I have with this and most people would is the fact that the heart of the chimpanzee is just being used for the ends of humans; this procedure isn’t something necessary especially since it is most likely not to work, as stated in the article. I am all for the betterment of mankind and helping people survive, but I have a problem when animals, especially one such as a chimpanzee that is so similar to us, are used when the end factor may not justify the means.

In the commentary section of the article, Strachan Donnelley devises an argument in which I agree with. He focuses on the ethical questions presented when not going to an extreme side. He goes on to say this use of chimpanzee hearts its not ethically right nor is it morally right because it will result in the eventual extinction of the animal species. This is my same sentiment on this subject. The people that may receive these hearts will live longer for only a few more days while the chimpanzees giving the hearts will die. This factor added to the fact that these animals are already endangered will result in the complete annihilation of the species. I felt Willard Gaylin made a very good argument, but did not convince me. He focuses on the pathos of the argument to try and take in account the emotions of the readers to seeing and agreeing with him on this issue. There are, however, more factors that apply besides the ones he presents. Homo sapiens are the most intelligent beings on the planet, but that gives us the most responsibility to ensure that we do not take advantage of this power. As one of the most popular saying goes from the infamous spiderman comics, “With great power comes great responsibility”. This applies to humans in various ways especially with our animal counterparts and how we treat them.

I end with a simple cartoon that I found to be a good representation of what we should do for animals before using them for whatever advancement we want.

Bioethics.

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The term bioethics brings up, in mind, the question, “is it alright to do certain things to a living thing?” “Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by the advances in biology and medicine.” Scientists and doctors have come up with many ways to help all sorts of people with many different problems. The solution to these problems may or may not offend some people in the process.

One topic of bioethics that is very controversial and a “hot topic” in the upcoming election is abortion. Abortion is a very touchy subject. Some say that it is killing a person. Others say that it is not. I, for one, think that abortion is an okay thing to do. If a person feels they aren’t fit to have a child, they should have the choice to not have the child. To take away the woman’s right to chose, isn’t okay. Mitt Romney wants to take away the woman’s right to have an abortion. I believe that a person who can’t have a baby shouldn’t have a say if someone can or can’t have a baby. No uterus no say.

What Is Bioethics?

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When you put into Google “what is bioethics” what you get back is a literal definition. “The ethics of medical and biological research.” After reading the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights however, I think bioethics is much more than that.

I believe now that bioethics is more about a universal declaration, a declaration that applies to all peoples and states, on how we should treat others.

We are privileged to live in a day and age where major new advances in medicine, technology, and science are happening on a weekly if not daily basis. What I think this UNESCO declaration is trying to lay out is that we should 1: never manipulate other human beings, particularly others that we perceive to be from lower socioeconomic status than us, for scientific gain. We need to understand that these people are people too and all of our actions have reactions. 2: The study of bioethics should be for advancing and bettering human life.  When we study bioethics we should be looking to create progress in science and technology that “contributes to justice, equity and to the interest of humanity.”

While these seem like basic, simple principals, they can never be understated. As the famous saying goes, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

What is bioethics?

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Bioethics is the relationship between biological science and research and whether the procedures and outcomes of that science are morally just towards those that the science is affecting. Who decides what is ethical is entirely situational which is why I think the UNESCO: Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights is a very good guideline because it provides a universal set of ideas on how to approach matters in regards to bioethics without placing excessive restrictions on the situations. This is important because bioethics is completely situational and constantly changing based on newly developed procedures and technology and therefore placing too many restrictions within a guideline like this could potentially do more harm than good. This may even be what the writers of this document had in mind when they wrote it because emphasis is placed on it being a guide in Article 2a where is says “to provide a universal framework of principles and procedures to guide States in the formulation of their legislation, policies, or other instruments in the field of bioethics,” as well as in Article 2b where it is stated that the declarations aim is “to guide the actions of individuals, groups, communities, institutions and corporations, public and private.” The declaration also states that it is “to safeguard  and promote the interests of the present and future generations,” showing that they have brought into consideration that bioethics is a developing field.

UNESCO: Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights

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The reading for this week was the Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I want to first focus on the actual definition of Bioethics, which I deduced from the reading. Bioethics is a study of the moral and ethical responsibilities that all human beings have in all medical, scientific and research fields. This is the simple, elementary definition of bioethics, but reading through this declaration gave me a realization that it is much more involved and complex. One part of the realm of bioethics that interested me was the Aim presented in Article 2, part g, which stated “to safeguard and promote the interests of the present and future generations. Now the idea of safeguarding and promoting the interests of the present are expected, but the concept of preserving the future has only come up recently. Within the last 10 years, the preserving of the environment and of the world has been of utmost importance so that the generations after us can enjoy the faculties of this planet and the innovations we have brought into this world. For me, this created a whole new spectrum of bioethics because it broadened the reach of its importance.

Another aspect of Bioethics that surprised me in the Declaration was Article 13. This article basically is calling for a sort of worldwide unity and cooperation between all nations. It initiates another angle of equality socially and medically across the world for all people. Now due to many political, religious, and other numerous factors, many nations can not come to an agreement on many issues. Even within nations, such as ours, certain issues are divided almost right down the middle with two different sides, such as with abortion. I do not want to go on a tangent on the abortion issue, but I felt like this declaration does not hinder nor help either side of the issue. It was something that I was looking for as I read and found that through this document conclusion can be drawn for both pro-life and pro-choice sides. I noticed that the declaration did not want to make arguments or statements for certain controversial issues, but rather took an angle to provide a guideline to every nation and organization of how to proceed on protecting everyone’s rights and lives, but still allowing them to push for more innovations. With the coming election in this country I feel that bioethics must play an important issue, more so than it ever has in the past. We must take in consideration so much and I am not asking for an answer to this question, but just for everyone to think about, What candidate will help this country follow these guidelines as best as possible and is it even possible to follow every single one? These are just two questions that I thought about as I read this document.

What is Bioethics

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Bioethics is the reflection of issues in medicine, life sciences and health policy. It is also the decision making whether a procedure or advancement should be allowed or not. Bioethics are influential in everyday life, from questioning whether abortion is legal, to if the surgery you require is morally right to perform. Bioethics regard everyone and everything and gives them rights medically speaking.

The General Conference of UNESCO has written and published a text regarding the ethics of certain procedures in  “medicine, life sciences and associated technologies” that describe a set of rules and situations that are meant to preserve life in general.  The rules they created are centered in helping humans by giving them medical rights, including everyone being equal. It generally states how medical issues should be handled and what is ethically correct when regarding another person.