Week 1 Introduction Flashcards
- Ethics is a rather generic term covering
different ways of
examining and interpreting the moral life.
- Some approaches to ethics are normative, others nonnormative.
- Normative ethics seeks to respond to:
Normative ethics seeks to respond to:
* Which general moral norms should we use to guide and evaluate conduct,
and why?
* Ethical theories seek to identify and justify these norms, which are often
referred to as principles, rules, rights, or virtues
Ethics seeks to answer normative inquiries, such as
- Is there a difference between right and wrong?
- How can we judge which actions are right and which are wrong?
- Are values/principles absolute or relative?
- What rights, do we have? Are they absolute? What infringements are
allowable? - What duties and responsibilities do we have? What should we do when we
have competing duties or responsibilities? - What is the “good life”? What is happiness?
- How can I be a responsible and supportive member of my community? What
is equity?
- The International Association of Bioethics
defines bioethics as:
- “The critical examination of ethical issues in health and biological
sciences.”
Two parts in BIOETHICS
- Bios: Life
- Ethos: Manners, conduct of life
Bioethics:
The critical examination of ethical issues
in health and biological sciences. (examples)
-Research with
human subjects
+ Consent.
-Allocation of
scarce resources
-Should health
decisions be
individually or
collectively
done?
-Decisions to
withhold or
withdraw
treatment
-What’s privacy
in digital
medicine?
-What’s about
biases and
discrimination in
health research
and healthcare
delivery?
Birth of bioethics
- Van Rensselaer Potter’s book Bioethics: Bridge to the Future (1970) (concerned about nuclear weapons + future)
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University (1971) (respect for person, benevolence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, came after bad research/experimental practices)
- May also be in 1927 by Fritz Jahr who published an article entitled: “Bio-Ethics: A Review of the Ethical Relationships of Humans to Animals and Plants”
- Jahr proposed a “Bioethical Imperative,” extending Kant’s moral imperative to all
forms of life.
Difference between law and ethics
-law is not the same as ethics
-both have consequences e.g. medical professionals not following ethics and losing license as a result, social ethics
-Google: “Ethics are a set of moral values an individual establishes for one’s self and your own personal behavior. Laws are structured rules utilized to govern all of society.”
Trolley problem
-2 skytrain/trolley tracks, 1 with 5 people, other with 1 person
-deontological pov: don’t do anything, it’s not my responsibility to decide who lives/dies
-utilitarian pov: choose to save 5 (more people)
-in a dilemma, both perspective’s can’t exist at the same time
In all cases, bioethics is
- A social and cultural happening
- A rather complex enterprise
Why does bioethics matter?
- The scope of bioethics
- affects every person, throughout life individually and as a society locally and
globally - Fields of study and practice
- e.g., clinical, research, public health, health policy
- Specific fields of interest
- e.g., beginning and end of life, non communicable diseases, pandemics, AI,
health data, -omics - Tools and methods
- e.g., conceptual/normative analysis, legal analysis, empirical studies
The Henrietta
Lacks Case
(1951)
-In 1951, a young African American woman named Henrietta Lacks
sought treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital for an aggressive form of
cervical cancer. Without her knowledge or consent, doctors took
samples of her cancer cells during treatment and discovered something
unprecedented: her cells were immortal, meaning they could replicate
indefinitely outside the human body. These cells, named HeLa cells,
became one of the most important tools in medical research.
-For decades, HeLa cells were used in countless scientific breakthroughs,
from the development of the polio vaccine to advancements in cancer
research, virology, and even space biology. Despite their enormous
contribution to science, neither Lacks nor her family were aware of the
use of her cells until years after her death. The unconsented harvesting
and use of her cells raised significant ethical questions, especially
regarding informed consent and the exploitation of vulnerable
populations, particularly African Americans, in medical research.
The Henrietta
Lacks Case
(1951) Key Ethical Issues
-Informed consent: Lacks was never informed that
her cells would be used for research, raising
questions about autonomy and respect for persons.
-Exploitation: The commercialization of HeLa cells
generated significant profit, but neither Lacks nor
her family were compensated.
-Privacy and genetic data: The publication of Lacks’
genetic information without family consent poses
modern concerns over genetic privacy and
ownership of biological materials.
The Daigle v.
Tremblay Case
(1989)
-The Daigle v. Tremblay case was a landmark legal battle in Canada
involving the rights of a woman to access an abortion and the opposing
rights of the biological father. The case arose when Chantal Daigle, a
pregnant woman in Quebec, decided to have an abortion after
separating from her partner, Jean-Guy Tremblay.
-Tremblay, opposed to the abortion, sought and obtained a court
injunction to prevent Daigle from terminating the pregnancy, arguing
that the fetus had a right to life and that he, as the father, had the right
to protect his unborn child.
-The Quebec courts initially ruled in favor of Tremblay, issuing an
injunction that prohibited Daigle from obtaining an abortion. The case
quickly escalated to the Supreme Court of Canada, which had to
consider whether a biological father had the legal right to prevent an
abortion and whether a fetus had constitutional rights under Canadian
law
The Daigle v.
Tremblay Case
(1989) Key Ethical Issues
-Bodily autonomy: Central to the case was Daigle’s right to control her
own body and make decisions regarding her reproductive health. The
case tested the extent to which a woman’s right to bodily autonomy
could be overridden by the interests of the biological father or the fetus.
-Fetal rights vs. maternal rights: Tremblay argued that the fetus had a
right to life, and by extension, he had a right to protect it as the father.
The court had to consider whether a fetus had legal standing and
whether it had rights that could be defended by the father, pitting the
rights of the mother against those of the fetus and the father.
-Gender equality and reproductive rights: The case raised broader
questions about gender equality, particularly around reproductive rights.
If men were granted the legal authority to block abortions, it could be
seen as undermining women’s ability to make autonomous choices
about their bodies and their lives.
