Bioethics

let's play a game.

some ethical cases

There is only one heart available for transplant on the waiting list. Who shall we give it to?

An average 17-year old girl, studies hard, active in school, has not yet experienced much of life „

A 40-year-old school principal, is divorced and has no kids, but has a lot of people at the school depending on him
„
An 70-year-old woman with 5 children and 7 grandkids, who has dedicated her life to volunteer work with the poor and has led a fulfilling life

There is only one heart available for transplant on the waiting list. Who shall we give it to?

17 year old girl is now a heroin addict, has been in and out of jail since she was 13

40 yr old school principal has eaten fast food all his life, hasn’t made much effort to be heart-healthy

70 yr old woman is all alone; her family all died long ago

What is Bioethics?

ETHICS: the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group/culture

BIOETHICS: a field of study concerned with the ethics and philosophical implications of certain biological and medical procedures, technologies, and treatments, as organ transplants, genetic engineering, and care of the terminally ill

two important questions

• If science enables us to do something, is it right to exercise our power?
• If something is legal in society, does that mean it is just?

Why should we care?

- Moral norms require interpretation

- Resolution often requires compromise

- Some moral problems are unsolvable

- Moral reasoning needs to be justified

on the right to conrol life

• contraceptives
• legalized abortion
• euthanasia; the right-to-die movement

on sovereignty over the body

• stem cell technology
• transgender surgery
• genetic engineering

contraceptives

Contraception is...

"any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act [sexual intercourse], or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible"

(Humanae Vitae 14).

this includes...

• sterilization
• condoms and other barrier methods
• spermicides
• coitus interruptus
•  the Pill

Ethical Reflction
At what stage does human life begin?

Are sperm and egg cells human?

Is a zygote human?

Is a fetus already a human?

Differing interpretations on where life begins leads to disagreements on the morality of using contraceptives.

To others, the use of contraceptives to prevent pregnancy in itself is counter to the intended purpose of the sexual act.

Christian Reflection
OT: Gen. 38:8–10
NT: Galatians 5:19-21

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

abortion

Abortion is...
The forced termination of an embryo or fetus during its development

In the United States:
Over 1 million abortions per year
Over 50 million abortions in the United States since the procedure was legalized in 1973.

Worldwide:
there are around 50 million abortions every year.

some statistics on abortion in the Philippines

Methods of Abortion:
- Suction
- Dilation and curettage
- Injection
- Intrauterine device
- Partial birth
- RU-486 pill
- Morning-after pill/ “emergency contraception”

Ethical Reflections


Woman and child: Why should the mother’s option to kill her child overrule the child’s right to live?

Cases of rape: It is understandable that a woman may not want the child of a rape.

Fathers: It is not uncommon that young pregnant women feel obliged to abort because the father does not want to take responsibility for their child.

Money Problems: Are financial problems sufficient reason to terminate a pregnancy?

Adoption: In cases of extreme hardship, it may happen that a mother cannot raise her child.

Christian Reflection
Luke 23:29
Psalm 127:3
Deuteronomy 30:19
1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Luke 23:29
For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’

Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

euthanasia

Euthanasia is...
Consensual “mercy killing” of those suffering from terminal illnesses and unbearable pain

Illegal in most places. Where legal, it is generally administered through an overdose of muscle relaxants or sedatives.

Right-to-Die movement

•Advocates for the legalization of euthanasia to give patients the option to eliminate unnecessary suffering of both the patient and their family from terminal illnesses.

•Euthanasia is currently legal in Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, and certain states in the US.

consent

• Patient must understand the implications
• Not mentally ill
• Capable of making decisions

forms of euthansia

• Active – directly providing the means for death.
• Passive – do-not-resuscitate orders, etc.

Ethical Reflections


Is subsistence (as vegetable, cancer-sufferer, etc.) the same as life?

•Does the Christian belief of the sanctity of life demand its preservation at all costs?

•Does a person not deserve to have control over the means and circumstances of one’s death, especially if the long way out means a financial burden, physical and emotional pain for all involved? Or do such practices set a dangerous precedent?

Christian Reflection

“'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!' But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips,”
(Job 2:9-10).

stem cell research

Revolutionary medical technology that was initially developed by using human embryos as a source for the stem cells.

There are now alternatives available to human embryos.

Ethical Reflection
Is a human embryo the same thing as a human life? What holds more worth: potential or actual beings?

If, by saving an embryo in the case of ectopic pregnancies, we sacrifice the life of a human being (in this case, the mother,) what makes this choice the lesser evil? How does one measure the value of a human life?

Christian Reflection
Exodus 20:13
"You shall not murder."

transgender surgery

Also known as “gender-reassignment” surgery

China, Korea, Japan and Thailand

State subsidized in conservative and patriarchal countries such as Iran and Serbia

Surface-level changes; gender reassignment surgery cannot give a biological man the ability to bear children, or a woman to have sperm

DSM-IV category: Gender Identity Disorder

Are such operations a perversion of the natural biological roles of man and woman as progenitors of future generations? Or is such a conception of sexuality outdated in the face of overpopulation?

possible misunderstandings from the Bible

Matthew 19:12

– For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others--and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.

Eunuchs are not transgender.

1 Corinthians 6:9

–Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men.

Transgender surgery is not associated with homosexuality.

christian reflection

Galatians 3:28

–There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Dr. Robert Gagnon
“Gender identity and gender role may change but the biological factors such as DNA, chromosome or hormones will never change, which shows the design of God”

genetic engineering

Technology that allows the modification of an organism’s characteristics through editing its genetic code

“Genetically-modified organisms”

Likened to “playing God”

Such technology might allow humans in the future to select the traits of their children

“Designer babies”

In the Philippines -
Pope has not endorsed GMOs + Bishop Vincent Navarra of the Diocese of Bacolod in the Philippines issued a pastoral letter calling on the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments to continue banning the entry of GMO products.

Christian Perspective:
“The famous words of Genesis entrust the earth to man's use, not abuse. They do not make man the absolute arbiter of the earth's governance, but the Creator's "co-worker" (Pope John Paul II, 2000: Great Jubilee)

rising to the challenge

Connecting bioethics to the bible can be complex.

Openness to the Spirit’s guidance.Christian ethics begins with prayerful openness to God’s continued guidance (Matthew 21:22). Specific issues of bioethics may be new, but they need not intimidate us, because God has promised through the Holy Spirit to lead us to the truth that we need to be faithful to His will (John 14:15-17).

The Bible tells us that the essential values and principles for our moral lives are unified in love. Jesus makes love for God and love for persons the essential foundation of ethics (Matthew 22:34-40).

In love, then, we have a practical basis for resolving values conflicts. This means we must apply all biblical norms in ways that are consistent with love. To affirm this is not asking for impossible.
We have love made real in the person of Jesus (John 3:16). The ministry of Jesus embodied God’s love and awakens in us the desire to follow Him (Philippians 2:5; 1 Peter 2:21). In Jesus’ healing ministry and in His respect for those who were vulnerable and rejected, we have an example with profound implications for bioethical issues.

When we are secure in biblical faith, we are not intimidated by the new and challenging questions by bioethics. Instead, we gain the confidence that God will continue to lead us and empower us to enter any area of humanity inquiry, thus serving Him and humanity better.

proposals for action

• principled education on sex and family planning
• empathy for the weak
• empathy for the different
• scientific development with christian direction