Beginning of Life Flashcards
What are some key ethical questions about the beginning of life?
- Who should be parents
- What is the remit of assisted reproduction
- Should we choose our children
- What is the status of the embryo and foetus
- How important is maternal autonomy
What are some who should be parents arguements?
- Reproductive rights and responsibilities
- Do clinicians have the right to assess potential parents
- The fertility paradox: regulation, access and equity
- Balance of autonomy of couple vs non malfeasance against future child
What act protects the welfare of a potential child?
Human Fertilisation Embryology Act 1990
How does the Human Fertilisation Embryology Act 1990 dictate who can get fertility treatment?
- Treatment condition to welfare of child
- Predicting welling being of future person
- Similar criteria for fostering and adoption
- In a set of circumstances, would it be better if the child was not born at all
What are some assisted reproductive techniques?
- Artificial insemination
- In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
- Preimplantation genetic testing
- Gamete donation
- Embryo donation
- Surrogacy
What are some opportunies of assisted reproduction?
- Treatment infertility
- Single and same sex parents
- Prevention of inherited conditions
- Fertility preservation
What are some risks of assisted reproduction?
- Sex selection
- “Designer babies”
- The reproductive industry
What are some ethical questions around the treatment of infertility?
- Who are infertile (from medical to social definitions)
- Absolute verses relative barriers to conception
- Who should be offered treatment
- What treatment should be offered
- How should this be funded
What are some ethical issues of pre-implantation genetic testing?
- Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
- Screening for delayed onset conditions
- Sex selection for family balancing
- Seeking disability (deafness and achondroplasia)
- Saviour siblings (for donating tissue)
- Routine use of pre-implantation genetic testing
What are some arguements about sex selection?
- Has been used to select male embryos
- Undermines the status of woman
- Can lead to gender imbalance
- Against the principle of unconditional parental love
- Can be used for family balancing
What are some arguements about social egg freezing?
- Distinct from egg freezing for medical reasons
- Age related reduction in ovarian reserve
- Technology available
- Provides greater reproductive control
- Is it a medical need
- Financial implications
What are some arguements about the reproductive industry?
- Commercialisation of reproduction
- Reproductive tourism
- Sourcing donor gametes
- Global market in surrogate mothers
- New opportunities for parenthood
- Potential for exploitation
Why are there ethical issues in regards to reproductive cloning?
The source of the cells which come from human embryos
What is the moral status of the human embryo?
- When does life begin
- Mary Warnock and the HFE Act 1990
- Embryos can be used for research up to 14 days after fertilisation]
- This is because this is when the primitive streak forms and the CNS starts to develop
When can embryos be used for research purposes up to?
14 days after fertilisation as the primitive streak develops then
What are some arguements for abortion?
- Acknowledge sexual and reproductive rights of woman
- Unwanted pregnancy can harm physical and mental health
- Wanted children thrive
- Safe abortion saves lives globally
- A potential human is not a child
What are some arguements against abortion?
- Denial of the rights of the embryo/foetus
- Eliminating the potential for life
- The availability of contraception as an alternative
What pre-natal screening is offered in Scotland?
Triple test (AFP, Estrio, beta HCG) for chromosomal abnormalities
What are some early pregnancy diagnostic tests?
Chorionic villus sampling
Amniocentesis
What are risks of pre-natal diagnosis testing?
Risk of miscarriage
What are arguements about pre-natal screening?
- Which conditions should be tested for
- Whose decision should it be
- Linked to decision to terminate pregnancy
What are arguements about maternal verses foetal interests in pregnancy?
- Foetal surgery involving maternal risk
- Delivery for foetal or maternal interest
- Maternal autonomy and status of the foetus
- Competence for informed consent
What is the age of viability to give birth?
24 weeks, but serious risk of disability
What are some ethical considerations about neonatal care?
- Extreme prematurity and the right to be resuscitated
- Resuscitation, who decides
Summarise the ethical issues at the beginning of life?
- Involves two/three individuals and one does not have a voice
- Autonomy for who
- Beneficence for who
- Non-malfeasance for who
- Unitarianism, individual versus collective good
