This weekend, while reading the “Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights,” my mind kept turning back to the various speeches I’ve seen. Between the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, it seems like anything I read somehow turns into politics or government speech.

I guess the easiest link that my mind keeps making is that between bioethics and the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obama Care). According to Healthcare.gov, the key to what Obama Care does is “offers clear choices for consumers and provides new ways to hold insurance companies accountable.” In other words, health care is supposedly available to more people and is more affordable, and covers more kinds of doctors, etc. I’m sure I am completely oversimplifying all of this, but the talk around Health Care Reform is really what this post is about.

In the reading we did for this week, UNESCO states that we must be “aware that human beings are an integral part of the biosphere, with an important role in protecting one another…” But, what does it really mean to protect someone? I guess making sure that we take care of each other is a central way–that people who need medical attention get it and are not financially ruined because of it. I’ve luckily never been in a situation where I’ve had to live without health insurance, but I do have friends who do. And it is scary.

Romney mentioned that he would keep some parts of Obama Care–ensuring that people with pre-existing ailments can get insurance and allowing younger adults to remain on their parents’ health care plan. Michelle Obama reflected on her husband’s health care reform also:

When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president.

 

He didn’t care whether it was the easy thing to do politically – that’s not how he was raised – he cared that it was the right thing to do.

 

He did it because he believes that here in America, our grandparents should be able to afford their medicine…our kids should be able to see a doctor when they’re sick…and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness.

 

And he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care…that’s what my husband stands for.

I guess the real question here is one of ethics–who deserves to get the care he/she needs? Doesn’t everyone deserve to have that privilege? Since medicine as a field has advanced so far, shouldn’t everyone get to reap those benefits? Who gets to make decisions?

I don’t mean to ask these questions as a reflection of my own opinion. I’m purposely not stating my opinion and trying to figure out a way to think through the connections between bioethics and health care. What are the major tenets of bioethics (or issues that fall under bioethics) that health care reform also deals with?