Religious attitudes to matters of life (medical ethics) Flashcards
What are the 4 fertility treatments?
- IVF
- AID
- AIH
- Surrogacy
What is IVF?
In vitro fertilisation (in glass)
What is the process of IVF?
- egg and sperm collected and brought together in a Petri dish
- fertilisation of egg occurs
- implanted into woman’s womb so a normal pregnancy occurs
What is AID/H?
Artificial insemination by donor/husband
What is the process of AID/H?
- semen collected to fertilise the egg
- samples placed into woman’s womb, making fertilisation more likely to happen
When is AID used?
- husband has no sperm count (infertile)
- husband has genetic disease he doesn’t want to pass
- both female partners
When is AIH used?
Husband has low sperm count
What is surrogacy?
Another woman carries a pregnancy to full term for a couple
What are the **Buddhist **teachings about fertility treatment?
- ahimsa - loving kindness and non-violence to all sentient beings
- all lives are shaped by karma and suffering in this life is from karma
- life exists from conception
What are the Buddhist attitudes to fertility treatment?
- having families is a major focus
- fertility treatments as showing compassion
- their predicament as a result of previous karma
- concern over throwing away excess embryos (killing)
What are **Christian **teachings about fertility treatments?
- go forth and multiply (Genesis)
- God knows each of us intimately and has set a plan for our life (Old Testament)
- infertility is a call from God to adopt (Roman Catholic teaching)
What are the **Christian **attitudes to fertility treatments?
- fertility treatment is God’s gift of medicine and an extension of Jesus’ teachings of love
- Roman Catholics see is as wrong as children should be conceived by a couple during marriage
- some are halfway: accept fertility treatments but see donors materials as adultery
What are the Hindu teachings about fertility treatments?
- the householder (grihastha) stage of life should lead to children in a family
- all men come into the world burdened by ancestor debt. The only way to repay this is by fathering a son
- Karma shapes our lifetimes, and we have to face difficulties to repay bad karma from the past
What are the Hindui attitudes to fertility treatment?
- Children are important, especially boys
- pressure of having children, and if that means through artificial means, then it is ok
- Levirate marriage (conceiving with a second wife/husband) is accepted, so donor material are accepted
- fertility treatments are seen as compassionate, such as surrogacy
What are Islam teachings about fertility treatment?
- Allah gives life to whom he chooses (Qur’an)
- ‘Marriage is my tradition’ (Muhammas pbuh)
- Do not come near adultery or fornication for it is shameful (Qur’an)
What are the Muslim attitudes to fertility treatment?
- marriage and having children is a duty
- Allah blesses couples with the gift of children, it is his will if someone is unable to have a child
- Most accept fertility treatments, as it is a gift from Allah
- donor materials are seen as adultery and fornication, so it is wrong
What are Jewish teachings about fertility treatment?
- Go forth and multiply (Genesis)
- Do not commit adultery (Exodus)
- There are several stories of women being ‘helped’ to conceive when obviously infertile in the Tenakh, such as 2 Kings 4:14-16
What are the Jewish attitudes to fertility treatment?
- Judaism accepts fertility treatments, as long as there are not donor materials
- egg and sperm must be from couple
- donor sperm is considered as adultery (breaks Ten Commandments)
- the mand would have to ‘waste seed’ because the child would not be his
What are the Sikh teachings about fertility treatment?
- ‘May you have seven sons’ (traditional wedding blessing)
- Any third person within a marriage is seen as adultery
- God gives life, which is an expression of his will (Guru Granth Sahib)
What are the Sikh attitudes to fertility treatment?
- encourages couples to have children
- fertility treatment must not involve donor materials (adultery, which is one of the Four Abstinences)
- fertility treatments as God-given knowledge
What is the Human Embryo and Fertilisation Act (1990)?
Set up rules for scientists- show respect to embryonic life by destroying the embryo after 14 days
What is embryo research?
Learning about the development of embryos and genetic diseases. The aim is to find cures
What is stem cell research?
Embryos have stem cells, that can develop into any part of the human body, so they can be used to grow organs
What is genetic engineering?
Modifying the genetic make up of cells to treat hundreds of genetic disorders and diseases
What are transfusions?
Usually blood transfusions, where a person would be given blood to replace what has been lost
What is transplantation?
Organ transplantation is used when somebody’s organ is failing or has failed, so needs to be replaced. Some donate when alive and some donate when dead
What is xenotransplantation?
Genetically modifying animals’ organs so it can be used for humans
What are the Buddhist teachings to maintaining life?
- Buddha gave up his own life to save others
- Bodhisattva vow- to help all who need help
- Cherish in your hearts boundless goodwill to all beings (Buddha)
What are the Buddhist attitudes to maintaining life?
- transfusions and transplants are the individual’s choice
- good to help others, usually selflessly
- concerns about experimenting on embryos (embryos might feel pain or have consciousness)
- if it works, it would help many people in the future
What are the Christian teachings to maintaining life?
- All life is sacred, and should be respected because it is given by God
- Jesus helped others
- Love one another (Jesus to his disciples)
What are the Christian attitudes to maintaining life?
- embryo research is wrong and against natural law
- foetus should be given same respect as a person
- all life is sacred
- many see the potential benefit in the future (embryos used were discarded anyway, so it is making something good from bad)
- cloning is seen as playing God
- organ donation and blood transfusion are acts of kindness
- Pope Benedict XVI ‘free act of good will’ agreed to be a donor after death
- Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in bloodless surgery as they believe the life is in the blood
What are the Hindu teachings to maintaining life?
- Hinduism has stories where human body parts are used to help others
- All things, including humans, are expressions of Brahman
- Daya (compassion) and dana (charity) must be practised by Hindus
What are the Hindu attitudes to maintaining life?
- nothing in scriptures which prevents Hindus from being blood or organ donors
- fits well with duties and efforts to attain moksa
- cloning is not seen as creating souls, so it is ok
- embryo research uses live embryos, so it is wrong as it experiments on human life
What are the Muslim teachings to maintaining life?
- Whoever saves a life, it would be as if he has saved the life of all people (Qur’an)
- Shari’ah law prohibits the mutilation of a body
- Do not take life- which Allah has made sacred- except for just cause (Qur’an)
What are the Muslim attitudes to maintaining life?
- embryo research is wrong (it is alive so it is sacred)
- if the embryo is from miscarriage or an abortion, then it is acceptable for the benefit of others
- cloning is playing God and shirk (blasphemy)
- should not cut up dead bodies
- transplants are saving lives, so Shari’ah law allows it as lesser of two evils
- blood transfusion helps others, so is encouraged
What are the Jewish teachings to maintaining life?
- If one is in the position to be able to donate an organ to save another’s life, it is obligatory to do so (Rabbi Moses Tendler)
- A basic principle of Jewish ethics is the infinite worth of a human being
- It is forbidden to mutilate a body, and the whole body must be buried
What are the Jewish attitudes to maintaining life?
- genetic engineering is acceptable if it is to get rid of disease, but not to improve G-d’s creation (blasphemy)
- live embryo research is wrong
- obligation to preserve human life, so transplants and transfusions are accepted
- heart transplants are not acceptable (as the time between certified death and removal of heart is uncelar, so the removal could have caused the death)
What are the Sikh teachings to maintaining life?
- Sewa - service to others as an act of worship
- Life begins at conception, and is given by God
- Caring for the sick has been part of Sikhism from the earliest days of the faith
What are the Sikh attitudes to maintaining life?
- embryo experiments are wrong because life begins at conception
- genetic engineering is accepted where it prevents disease, but not improving what God created
- cloning could either be helpful or against God
- transplants and transfusions both help others
- body is just a waste after death, so can be used to help others instead
- God gave humans this knowledge, so it is wrong not to use it
