bioethics session 1 right to life

Introduction to BioethicsA (Very) Brief Summary of the Christian Bioethics Movement

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Bioethics Overview - C. Hall 2

What is Bioethics?

A brief history and definition

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A Definition

Gk. “Bios” – lifeGk. “Ethos” – behaviorBioethics is an attempt at ordering biological and

medical behavior according to a set of principlesIncludes medical ethics, animal ethics, and

environmental ethics

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A Timeline

1940s•Nazi war crimes for human experimentation

•Led to development of Nuremberg Code

1972•First uncovering of Tuskeegee Syphilis Study

•Shocking use of unethical research practice

1973•Roe v. Wade•allows access to abortion before viability

1996•Birth of Dolly the sheep

•Challenged definition of unique life

•Promoted question of cloning humans

1997•Oregon passes “Death with Dignity” act

•Legalizes PAS and euthanasia

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Notable Bioethics Organizations

The Hasting Center Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues Trinity University’s Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity Cedarville University’s Center for Bioethics

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My Experience with Bioethics

BDOC 354 – Christian Ethics (Premedical)

Dr. David Smith, M.D., MA Palliative care physician Graduate of Trinity CBHD

Personal interest: Christian bioethics moral philosophy Lockean Natural Law Pursuing M.D./Ph.D. next fall

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Abortion and the Right to Life

A Discussion on Human Dignity and the Moral Status of the Embryo

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After a thorough investigation, our office has found no indication that fetal tissue is being sold by the Planned Parenthood organizations in Ohio. However, in the course of our investigation, we learned that aborted fetuses are ultimately disposed of in landfill…Ohio Administrative Code…mandates that a “fetus shall be disposed of in a humane manner”

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Letter to Planned Parenthood on 12/11/2015

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Right to Life - C. Hall 10

A Worldwide Pandemic

World Health Organization 1 in 5 pregnancies are terminated by abortion 42 million abortions worldwide in 2003 (Best 141, citing Guttmacher In Brief) 1.2 million abortions in the U.S. in 2008 (Best 155, citing Guttmacher In Brief)

Landmark case: Roe v. Wade in 1973 (410 US 113) legalized abortion in the U.S. Recent victory: Gonzalez v. Carhart (550 US 124) upheld Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act

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The Question of Right to Life

Debate over “Right and Life” and “Right to My Own Body” Question on human dignity Two major areas of discussion:

Scientific definition of conception Religious concept of the soul

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A Timeline of Human Development

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Human Embryology

Image Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HumanEmbryogenesis.sv

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Human Embryology

Image Credit: http://www2.sfasu.edu/cte/Michelle_Files/HMS_353_Web_Content/s

tages_of_human_dev.jpg

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When Is Abortion Performed?

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Abortion Procedures – A Timeline

(Lim and Singh 860)

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Abortion Procedures – Vacuum Aspiration

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The Question of Right to Life

Debate over “Right and Life” and “Right to My Own Body” Question on human dignity Two major areas of discussion:

Scientific definition of conception Religious concept of the soul

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A Secular Approach

Utilitarian Ethics: Four Principles Consequence principle Utility principle Hedonistic principle Universal principle

Major proponent: Peter Singer from Princeton University

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[T]he fact that a being is a …member of the species Homo sapiens, is not relevant to the wrongness of killing it; it is, rather, characteristics like rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness that make a difference. Infants lack these characteristics. Killing them, therefore, cannot be equated with killing normal human beings…

Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics

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(continued)…the potential of a fetus to become a rational, self-conscious being cannot count against killing it at a stage when it lacks these …No infant - disabled or not - has as strong a claim to life as beings capable of seeing themselves as distinct entities, existing over time.

Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics

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A Christian Approach

Christians generally support a moral dualism Idea of a marriage between body and soulRich history of discussion since Augustine (and even Aristotle!)

The concept of imago deiWhat is this? Still hard to identifyHuman essential vs accidental characteristics

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And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV)

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Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.Genesis 9:6 (KJV)

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For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalms 139:13-16 (KJV)

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And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Luke 1:41-44 (KJV)Word for “babe” is Greek “βρεφος”, same as for Jesus in Luke 2:12

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And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:12 (KJV)Word for “babe” is Greek “βρεφος”, same as for John in Luke 1:44

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Some Biblical Conclusions

The Christian should recognize the dignity of all human life made in the Imago Dei

The Bible confirms the continuity between embryo and baby

In addition, Scripture teaches a respect for the unborn embryonic human

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Embryo: A Defense of Human Life

A 2008 book by Robert George and Christopher Tollefsen

Argues for protection of every human from the moment of conception

Establishes the concept of an unalienable “human essence” demanding respect

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Human embryos are not… some other type of animal organism, like a dog or cat. Neither are they a part of an organism…Nor again are they a disorganized aggregate, a mere clump of cells…Rather, a human embryo is a whole living member of the species Homo sapiens in the earliest stage of his or her natural development… who comes into existence as a single-celled organism (the zygote)

George and Tollefsen’s Embryo (pp. 3-4)

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Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

A 2012 book by Megan Best, a palliative care physician and bioethicist at CBHD

Surveys the ethical implications of reproductive technology, especially the moral status of the embryo

Contrasts secular and Christian perspectives within this debate

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Should we give a human embryo the same moral status as a human adult? As we’ve seen, that depends on our view of human personhood…It seems to me that logic obliges us to contend that human life and human personhood begin at fertilization. This is our experience.

Megan Best’s Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (p. 50)

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Michael Clancy Video

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Future Directions

The ongoing search for the definition of human dignity

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Defining Dignity

Towards a Public Theology of Protecting Embryonic Humans Lockean Natural Law Theory and the Definition of “Dignity” Finding the Defining Property Which Confers Dignity

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Suggested Resources

Megan Best’s Fearfully and Wonderfully Made George and Tollefsen’s Embryo: A Defense of Human Life Nathan Guy’s Thesis: “Is Dignity Out on a Limb?” (see me for access)

In addition, I am providing a few copies of a recent paper I submitted as a review of George and Tollefsen and another book, Sacred Cells, by Peters et al.

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Works Cited

Best, D.M. (2012). Fearfully and Wonderfully Made Ethics and the Beginning of Human Life (Kingsford, N.S.W.: InterVarsity Press).

Elkins, G.S. (2010). Sacred Cells? A Reply to Peters, Lebacqz, and Bennett. Ethics Med. Int. J. Bioeth. 26, 147–160. George, R.P., and Tollefsen, C. (2011). Embryo : a defense of human life (Princeton, New Jersey: Witherspoon Institute, c2011.). Kilner, M.J.F. (1992). Life on the Line: Ethics, Aging, Ending Patients’ Lives, and Allocating Vital Resources (Bannockburn, Ill.:

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). Lim, L.M., and Singh, K. (2014). Termination of pregnancy and unsafe abortion. Best Pract. Res. Clin. Obstet. Gynaecol. 28, 859–

869. Peters, T., Lebacqz, K., and Bennett, G. (2008). Sacred cells? : why Christians should support stem cell research (Lanham, Md. :

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2008.). Sansom, D.L. (2010). How Much Respect Do We Owe the Embryo? Limits to Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Ethics Med. Int. J.

Bioeth. 26, 161–173. Human Embryonic Development | HHMI’s BioInteractive. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Animation | HHMI’s BioInteractive.

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Questions and Answers

bioethics session 1 right to life

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