70 likes | 173 Views
Title: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES IN BIOETHICS TODAY ? (cont’d) LO: Identify issues of concern in contemporary society. The right to have a child.
E N D
Title: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES IN BIOETHICS TODAY? (cont’d)LO: Identify issues of concern in contemporary society
The right to have a child • Techniques, which were developed to assist infertile couples to have a child, are now being used to assist women without a male partner to choose to become pregnant. • In New Zealand, the Human Rights Act, 1993, made it illegal for fertility clinics to discriminate against sections of the population eg: single, lesbian, or women past childbearing age. • Is it a human right to be a parent? • How old, is too old, to be a parent? • What is the role of a parent? “But she’s an old lady! I mean, look at her, she’s old!... She’s just, too OLD” - Happy Gilmore
What is the Nature and meaning of Human Sexuality? We live in a society that has in many ways turned sex and sexuality into a commodity. Sex has lost its sacredness. Question: Why do we think this is the case?
The traditional understanding of human sexuality is being challenged by two contemporary developments: 1. The separation of sexual expression from procreation through effective means of contraception; • The achievement of procreation apart from sexual expression through techniques such as, In Vitro fertilization (IVF) Clip: Morning before pill…
In Vitro fertilization (IVF) In the extreme case it is possible for a child to have five parents: 1.The man who supplies the sperm 2. The women who supplies the egg 3. Surrogate mother 4/5. The two parents who raise the child Q: Would a situation like this have any implications for the child?
Designer Babies • The desire to have the ‘perfect’ baby has come closer to realisation through the techniques presently available in reproductive technology. • Artificial insemination using donor sperm allows some selection of characteristics. Within the IVF programme more healthy looking embryos are chosen for implantation.
Keeping alive or permitting to die • What lengths should medical professionals go to prolong the life of a person in an irreversible coma or permanent vegetative state? • Who should decide this? • Should medical personnel agree to requests from seriously ill or severely disabled persons to assist them to die?