Beginning Of Life

Question 1

What are the ethics, and legal issues surrounding the status of the embryo and foetus?

Answer 1

When does foetus become a person?
WHO prioritise the maternal health over foetus.
Unborn children do not have separate legal recognition from their mothers. Mothers can make choices against medical advice as long as they have capacity
Eg smoking alcohol

Question 2

What are the concepts of personhood?

Answer 2

Personhood is the status of being a person: when this occurs is highly debated

Question 3

What are the ethical, legal and professional aspects of contraception, artificial reproductive technologies, termination and neonatal care?

Answer 3

Contraception covered elsewhere

Artificial reproductive technologies
?pregnancy after menopause eg embryos and surrogates
?conceive a child to donate tissue to a sibling
?remuneration for donated eggs
?single and same sex parents
?designer babies
?fertility preservation

Termination
Acknowledges rights of women
Safe abortion saves lives
Potential human is not a child
Denial of foetal rights
Potential of life

Neonatal care 
Right to life
Criteria for resus 
Wouldn’t survive without neonatal care, not natural?
Future disability, who decides

Question 4

What are the ethical issues associated with preimplantation/prenatal testing and embryo selection, genetic testing and screening?

Answer 4

Prenatal screening
Justification
Whose decision is it
Which conditions are screened for
Decision to terminate pregnancy and such issues