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Quote of the day: Bioethics out of the mouths of babes

October 2, 2008 by Véronique Bergeron 1 Comment

My 6 year-old daughter’s grade 2 assignment is to present her family tree. Amongst pictures of assorted siblings, we added an ultrasound picture of Nouveau Bébé at 18 weeks gestation. While rehearsing her presentation, Martha said that there were 5 children in her family, for which she was immediately corrected by her 11-year-old brother who said: “There are six children in our family. Just ask Mom…” At that point, I thought he would say something like “She’s the one carrying that baby 24/7.” But no, you can always count on Kurt to go the extra mile. Instead, he said: “She spends her job thinking about dead people so she knows a family member when she sees one. And there are 6 children in this family.” 

“She spends her job thinking about dead people.” Ahem. No doubt, he was confusing my hobbies — pro-life blogging and getting graduate degrees in bioethics — with my actual day job which involves answering the phone and filing travel claims for other people.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: bioethics, Children, Parenting

Of rotten apples and illegitimate choices

June 24, 2008 by Véronique Bergeron Leave a Comment

I have returned from my bioethical wanderings which took me to Montreal to submit my master’s thesis – high five, anyone? — and St. John’s NFL for the Canadian Bioethics Society’s national conference. The Canadian bioethics community offers an interesting case-study in split personality, being profoundly committed to “women’s right to choose” while being profoundly horrified by its collateral damage, namely the cheapening human life, especially old, sick or disabled life. Whether or not they are able to see the link is anyone’s guess: I sat on numerous presentations decrying the effects of prenatal genetic screening and diagnosis on human diversity but nowhere did I hear a semblance of battle cry to make it stop. In cases such as these, it is more appropriate to use “pro-choice” than “pro-abortion” to describe the position of many speakers present at the conference: uneasy as they are with the termination of genetically impaired embryos, they would never question a woman’s choice to do so. From this point of view, abortion is a by-product of choice: if you want one, you will have to deal with the other.

 

I find this type of ethical reasoning both interesting and distressing. Interesting and distressing because if ethics concerns itself with what we should do, the hegemony of choice turns sound ethical reasoning on its head by stating first what we should do (don’t question choice) and backpedaling itself from its conclusion into an ethical position. It makes for somewhat cowardly ethics because paths of ethical reasoning that could lead to question the hegemony of choice – especially reproductive choice — are either eliminated or carefully circumvented. Speaking from both sides of one’s mouth will only get you so far in eliminating injustice: by refusing to take a clear stance on the injustice of genetic terminations – including sex-based terminations – the Canadian bioethics community is effectively condoning the elimination of diversity from the Canadian demographic landscape.

 

So what, you ask? The ramifications of condoning genetic terminations are not only seen in dwindling diversity. By refusing to rein in freedom of choice in matters of genetic terminations, we cause the erosion of the range of choices available to the rest of society: as embryos with trisomy 21 – to name this easy target – are less and less likely to make it to full term, the services and support available to parents who choose to bear and raise their children with Down syndrome are reduced to reflect the statistically inexistent demand. And I’m not even getting into the consequences of changing attitudes toward disability which can also erode the range of choices available to those who walk to a different drum. Illegitimate, unethical choices are rotten apples. Failing to recognize it only exposes the whole basket.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: bioethics

Life and academics

April 13, 2008 by Andrea Mrozek Leave a Comment

An upcoming event on the ethics of prenatal screening. It sounds interesting. I read the abstract–the speaker will, I think, argue against prenatal screening on the basis that it doesn’t serve women well:

I argue that in the vast majority of cases the option of prenatal screening does not promote or protect women’s autonomy. Both a narrow conception of choice as informed consent and a broad conception of choice as relational reveal difficulties in achieving adequate standards of free informed choice.

I will, however, further argue that she might benefit from the firm hand of a non-academic editor.

Filed Under: All Posts Tagged With: bioethics, choice, Health care, prenatal screening

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