Bioethics Exam C

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: GRADIENT THEORY

But is personhood like a toggle switch (you have it or you don't)? What about potential persons? Or former persons? (Think of probate laws and wills ...) Perhaps personhood comes in degrees? And you can have more or less of it Implications? Fetus would slowly in personhood through pregnancy, as cognition develops 26-week-old fetus < 34-week-old fetus < newborn baby < toddler < mother Thus, a fetus has some degree of personhood, and so deserves moral consideration Likewise, personhood can be lost as gradually as it can be gained

Expressivist Argument

By discarding "defective" embryos, PGD implicitly devalues lives of disabled people If this charge is substantiated, it should result in banning, on moral grounds, not only PGD but also abortion for fetal defects and some end-of-life measures for impaired neonates The best reason for the charge is that such procedures express a bias as pernicious as other societal biases such as sexism, racism, and homophobia Replies An overreaction, given how severe genetic diseases and disorders can be Not every parent can care for a child with special needs The analogy of PGD with sexism, racism, and homophobia is weak These replies are compatible with the rejection of PGD when: The parents refuse it, or The expected impairment is compatible with a life worth living

The Three R's

First described by W. M. S. Russell and R. L. Burch in 1959 Replacement methods which avoid or replace the use of animals in research Reduction use of methods that enable researchers to obtain comparable levels of information from fewer animals or to obtain more information from the same number of animals Refinement use of methods that alleviate or minimize potential pain, suffering or distress, and enhance animal welfare for the animals used

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: SOCIAL

This view says that you're a person whenever: Society recognizes you as a person or Someone cares about you The virtue of this view is that it is intuitive and allows for change You matter, morally, when you matter to someone Allows for society's understanding of a person to change over time (e.g., primates) But its implications ... We've had times when society has not recognized persons as persons If no one happens to care for a particular being, that being isn't a person

Abortion in Typica and HARD CASES

"Typical Case" Intentional termination of an unwanted pregnancy before the 24th week Nearly all abortions in the United States are the typical cases (more than 90%) "Hard Case" Intentional termination of a pregnancy for reasons such as: Rape Incest Fetal impairment Risk to the mother's life or health Sex selection?

Induced pluripotent stem cells

(also known as iPS cells or iPSCs) are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from adult cells. ... Further, because embryonic stem cells can only be derived from embryos, it has so far not been feasible to create patient-matched embryonic stem cell lines.

THE SANCTITY OF LIFE ARGUMENT

1. Human biological life is sacred. 2. Abortion is the intentional termination of a human biological life. 3. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong. Conservative Argument Abortion is always wrong 1. Human life is sacred because it arises through God's direction of the order of nature 2. Therefore, abortion is a grave moral wrong Assumptions in need of support: God exists The intentional termination of innocent human life amounts to interference with God's plan and is therefore always wrong Liberal Argument Abortion is permissible but should be rare 1. Human life is sacred because it is awe-inspiring 2. Since embryos and fetuses are human biological life, it follows that their lives are also sacred 3. These critics of abortion are not claiming that the sacredness of human life confers an inviolable right to life 4. Thus, the liberal doctrine is compatible with the permissibility of abortion

THE POTENTIALITY ARGUMENT

1. Persons have the right to life 2. The human fetus is a potential person 3. Therefore, the human fetus has a right to life OBJECTION: that argument is invalid. Compare: 1. The US Vice President is a potential President 2. The US President has the power to veto a bill 3. Therefore, the US Vice President has the power to veto a bill

Future -Like-Ours Argument(FLOA) DON MARQUIS

1. The loss of the victim's valuable future is what makes killing wrong 2. Someone's future may be valuable even if the individual doesn't value it: it is enough that the person could come to value it 3. Individuals with valuable futures have a right to life 4. Therefore, the human fetus has the same right to life as paradigm adults 5. Therefore, abortion is seriously wrong Objections to the FLOA: If we're essentially biological organisms, then it's only after two weeks of gestation that the fetus and an adult are the same person (e.g., because of twinning prior to then) Given the FLOA, even a skin cell has moral status, since it could be cloned and become someone with a future of value

Iceland : approach to down syndrome

100% of women who s fetus test positve or down syndrome abort results are 87 % accurate Have socilized Healthcare almost all births are performed at the same hospital All woman are councelled about fetus testing

JUDITH THOMSON

1971 GOOD SAMARITAN ARGUMENT: Abortion is morally permissible even if the human fetus is a person The GSA assumes that the human fetus is a person with a right to life ... but denies that this implies that abortion is impermissible After all, the mother has no duty to provide the fetus with the life support it needs to become viable If she chooses to do it by carrying her pregnancy to term, that would be nice but it's not morally obligatory

Don Marques's

1989 FUTURE-LIKE-OURS ARGUMENT: The loss of the victim's valuable future is what makes killing wrong 2. Someone's future may be valuable even if the individual doesn't value it: it is enough that the person could come to value it 3. Individuals with valuable futures have a right to life 4. Therefore, the human fetus has the same right to life as paradigm adults 5. Therefore, abortion is seriously wrong Objections to the FLOA: If we're essentially biological organisms, then it's only after two weeks of gestation that the fetus and an adult are the same person (e.g., because of twinning prior to then) Given the FLOA, even a skin cell has moral status, since it could be cloned and become someone with a future of value

Mary Ann Warren

9, 2010) was an American writer and philosophy professor, noted for her writings on the issue of abortion. Her essays have sometimes been required readings in academic courses dealing with the abortion debate and they are frequently cited in major publications like Peter Singer's The Moral of the Story: An Anthology of Ethics Through Literature[2] and Bernard Gert's Bioethics: A Systematic Approach.[3] She was sometimes described as a feminist, largely due to her pro-choice writings. Warren also wrote on the implications of sex selection[4] and about animal treatment. She was a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University for many years. Mary Anne Warren died on August 9, 2010 from undisclosed causes, aged 69.

Roe VS Wade trimester Approach

A woman may legally be given an abortion at any time up to viability—roughly, the beginning of the last trimester of pregnancy During1st trimester Abortion solely a matter for woman and her doctor to decide, without state interference In the 2nd trimester State may regulate abortion to ensure providers' competence and the safety of their methods and facilities In the 3rd trimester (by week 24 to 28) States could prohibit abortion outright, except where necessary to protect the life

EL Salvador :Penal code related to abortion (1999)

Abortions are Illegel with no exceptions. Women can be impronsoned for miscarriage and tried for murder with 30-50 years sentences

State of Georgia laws regarding Abortion

Although the 1972 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, states have legislated the procedure in many different ways, often imposing tough restrictions. In the state of Georgia, abortion laws require parental consent to have an abortion (unless it's an emergency); parents must have 24-hour notice prior to a scheduled abortion; and so-called "partial birth" abortions are prohibited, unless the procedure is medically necessary to save the life of the mother. HEALTH INSURANCE AND ABORTION IN GEORGIA Health plans that will be offered in the state's health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can will only cover abortion when the woman's life is endangered or her health is severely compromised. Abortion is covered in insurance policies for public employees only in cases of life endangerment. Finally, public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. . Code Section 16-12-140 et seq.; 15-11-110 et seq. ---Statutory Definition of Illegal Abortion--- By administering medicine, drugs, or substance or using instrument with intent to procure miscarriage or abortion. Partial Birth Abortion: Unlawful except to save the mother's life when that life is physically endangered and no other medical procedure will suffice to save her life -----Statutory Definition of Legal Abortion----- After 1st trimester, must be performed in licensed hospital or health facility; after 2nd trimester, physician and 2 consulting physicians must certify it is necessary to preserve life or health of mother ----Penalty for Unlawful Abortion----- Imprisonment 1 to 10 years; partial birth abortion: $5000 and/or imprisonment for up to 5 yrs. ----Consent Requirements---- Except in medical emergency, written, informed consent of parent or guardian of unemancipated minor under the age of 18; parent must have 24-hour notice before scheduled abortion, unless waived or unless minor obtains judicial approval that minor is either mature enough to decide without parents' consent or parents' consent is not in best interests of the minor Residency Requirements for Patients - ----Physician Licensing Requirements---- First trimester: licensed M.D.; second trimester: licensed M.D. and licensed hospital or health facility

Criteria Of Personhood: Genetic

American legal scholar named John Noonan This view says: You are a person if you have human DNA You are not a person if you don't Issue: cells have DNA but are not counted as a person The virtue of this view is its simplicity But its implications are so problematic that most philosophers dismiss it Does "person" equal (mean the same as) "human"? "Human" is a biological term — you're human if you have human DNA "Person" is a moral term Genetic criterion is problematic Both over-inclusive Human cells and corpses have human DNA And under-inclusive Homo sapiens and Neanderthals interbred Aliens (like Superman) Way he behaves, acts, talks, thinks certainly indicates that he's a person But he lacks human DNA and is affected by kryptonite in a way we aren't Calling him a human is incorrect But most would disagree with those who would deny him personhood Artificial intelligences (WALL-E or Samantha from the movie Her) What other non-humans might be persons? Great apes like Koko? Others

Tom Regan

American philosopher (who focused on animal rights theory) Argues from a Kantian perspective Each of us has a life that matters to us — we each experience being the "subject-of-a-life" If this is the true basis for ascribing inherent value to individuals, to be consistent we must ascribe inherent value, and hence moral rights, to all subjects-of-a-life, whether human or non-human The basic right of all who possess inherent value = the right never to be treated me The Case for Animal Rights (1983) Right not to be harmed (though not absolute) Total abolition of the use of animals in science Total dissolution of commercial animal agriculture Total elimination of commercial and sport hunting and trapping

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: COGNITIVE

American philosopher Mary Ann Warren Five factors: Consciousness Reasoning Self-motivated activity Capacity to communicate Self-awareness Drawbacks -fetus would not count -congintive impaired indvisiul w/dementia would not count -persistatn vegistativ state Argues that some humans aren't persons, either not yet or not anymore What are the implications of this? Rules out fetuses ... and maybe even young children Under-inclusive?

Aldo Leopold

American philosopher and ecologist A Sand County Almanac (1949, published shortly after his death) Collection of essays that advocate Leopold's idea of a "land ethic"

Interest View

Any sentient being has moral standing simply in virtue of having a stake in its own well-being Since sentience comes in degrees, moral standing varies accordingly Pre-sentient human fetuses don't have moral standing typical abortions morally permissible But after 25 to 30 weeks of gestation, with the onset of consciousness, human fetuses acquire sentience and a moral standing parallel to their degree of consciousness Objections If sentience is only sufficient for moral standing, early fetuses might still have moral standing Pre-sentient Baby (imaginary case) A baby is born perfectly healthy except for a brainstem anomaly which causes it to lack consciousness (including feelings of pleasure and pain) The anomaly can be corrected with a simple surgical procedure Should the procedure be performed? Yes ... but if baby lacks sentience, s/he has no interests

Peter Singer

Australian philosopher (who has written much on animal rights and food ethics) Primarily a utilitarian Singer's Principle of Equality: All individuals should be given equal consideration "Famine, Affluence, and Morality": argues for donating to help the global poor Looked to the history of racism and sexism to understand the oppression of non-humans as well Argues the boundary between human and "animal" is completely arbitrary No reason not to apply the principle of utilitarianism to other animals

EGG DONATION RISKS

Blood drawing - mild discomfort and some risk of developing a bruise at the needle site. Fertility Drugs - moderate weight gain, mood changes, stomach pressure, headaches, allergic reaction, Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS) of the ovaries (5% chance in any cycle). In very rare cases, hyperstimulation could lead to enlarged ovaries and an increased susceptibility to develop blood clots necessitating hospitalization. In very rare cases it may also lead to the development of fluid in the abdomen or lungs, kidney failure, or stroke. In extremely rare cases, an enlarged hyperstimulated ovary will rupture. This may necessitate general anesthesia and major surgery, with all the inherited risks. Loss of one or both ovaries is possible. The risk of hyperstimulation is minimized if the follicles are aspirated as is planned to occur at the donor egg retrieval. The risk increases if, after taking the fertility medications to stimulate the ovaries, you choose not to undergo the egg retrieval. There also exists an unlikely possibility of a lasting effect on your pelvic organs, including pain, irregular menstrual function, or impairment of future fertility. Finally, an association between fertility drugs and ovarian cancer has been suggested but not proven. Antibiotics - possible allergic reaction which, in rare cases, may be severe. Ultrasound guided egg retrieval - mild to moderate discomfort after the procedure. Potentially serious complications include bleeding, infection, and injury to the bowel or blood vessels. In extremely rare circumstances, surgery may be necessary to repair damage to internal organs or to control significant internal bleeding (i.e., hemorrhage). Anesthesia will be necessary for the egg retrieval. (The risks associated with anesthesia will be explained during a consultation with an anesthesiologist.) There may be additional risks of donating eggs, which at the present time have not yet been identified. Since it is theoretically possible that not all of the developed eggs will be recovered at the time of retrieval, there is a risk that you may become pregnant if you engage in unprotected intercourse during the egg donation cycle(s). Ultrasound examinations - no known risks, minimal discomfort. Torsion - twisting of an enlarged ovary resulting in sudden onset of severe abdominal pain. Onset during exercise or other agitating movement is common. Psychological Distress - sometimes associated with assisted reproductive technology procedures. Inconvenience - monitoring procedures during the period of stimulation, and the time needed to perform the egg retrieval itself will result in a certain amount of inconvenience and lost time. Potential Long Term Risks - no definitive studies have demonstrated any link between egg donation and infertility, cancer, or any other significant long-term health problems. Since egg donation is a relatively new procedure, we hope to learn more about the long-term effects of donor eggs in the future when additional research becomes available.

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: SENTIENCE

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: SENTIENCE Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer This view says that the key to personhood is sentience Capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively Ability to feel pleasure and pain 18th-century philosophers distinguished ability to think (reason) vs. ability to feel (sentience) This criterion ignores the whole idea of species altogether Instead looks at a being's capacity to suffer Wrong to cause unnecessary pain to anything that can feel But if it can't feel, we do no harm by excluding it from the group of beings that matter Implications? Non-persons: fetuses < 23 weeks, humans in PVS Persons: any animal with a developed central nervous system

Julian Savulescu:

Came up with the principles of the Perfitionsit Argument

Leon Kass

Coined the term "wisdom of repugnance" in 1997 Was chair (2001-2005) of the President's Council on Bioethics Somewhat related to the term "yuck factor" The idea that feelings of repugnance can, in fact, indicate wisdom Kass stated that disgust was not an argument per se, but went on to say that "in crucial cases ... repugnance is the emotional expression of deep wisdom, beyond reason's power fully to articulate" Replies Often viewed as loaded language Not a clear philosophical argument Primarily used by certain bioconservatives to justify their position

Concept of Pesonhood

Dertiming who is or who is not a person can be tricky issues throughtout history: colonism-slavery 20th WW2 Nazi Germany Today- infants,fetusese=>> abortion If Personahood was defined by the moment of conception -It removes abortion How are we obligated to treat people ? Treat equally

Joel Feinberg

Encompasses a set of moral rights children possess that are derived from the autonomy rights of adults The right protects the child against having important life choices determined by others before she has the ability to make them for herself The content of the right to an open future therefore includes restrictions on what parents (and others) are allowed to do to children, and, on some interpretations, tells us with what parents (and others) ought to provide children

Sufficientarianism

Frances Kamm: Ex ante: Changes or enhancements made before a child exists Ex post: Changes or enhancements made once a child exists Sufficientarianism Parental duty to enhance need not aim at perfection, but only at reaching a sufficient level whereby the child could achieve sufficient positional goods

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

Introduced in 1980s Initially used in IVF for the screening of embryos created with the gametes of individuals at high risk of genetic disease Designed for: Discarding embryos with single-gene defects and genetic mutations linked to congenital disability or premature death Can also selecting for babies who are good tissue match for an existing sick child Slippery slope Selection for nonmedical traits such as: Hair or eye color, intelligence, athletic or musical abilities, gender, skin complexion, etc. ©

Perfictionist Argument

Julian Svalescu: Perfectionist Argument Parents have a prima facie obligation to enhance their offspring as much as possible Principle of Procreative Beneficence: parents should select, from among possible children, the child with the best chance to have the best life (given the avai

Changes in thinking regarding animal Expermentation ....ANIMAL WELFARE ACT (AWA) OF 1966

Main source of federal regulation for animal dealers and laboratories Provides only minimal protection for certain species Covers < 10% of animals in labs Dogs, cats, nonhuman primates (such as chimpanzees and monkeys), guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, and other warm-blooded animals Excludes others that constitute an estimated 90-95% of animals in laboratories Such as rats, mice, and birds bred for research Cold-blooded animals (fish, reptiles, and amphibians) Farmed animals raised for food and fiber or used in agricultural research (cows and pigs) Sets minimal standards for housing, feeding, handling, veterinary care, and for some species like chimpanzees, their psychological well-being

HENRY GREELY: "EASY PGD"

Method Use induced pluripotent stem cells Turn them into gametes Create hundreds of embryos Run PGD on each Parents given embryo profiles Parents select which to implant Says this could benefit society Healthier babies, less disease, etc. Money savings for society (But is this risky eugenic thinking?) Ethical Concerns PGD takes a small sample of cells What trait selections should be allowed? Do parents understand genetics enough to make selections between embryos? Does science understand genetics enough to foresee implications? Are there sufficient genetic counselors? Will everyone have access? Can't progress be made through social changes? What to do with all those unused embryos? © 2017 HENRY T. GREELY, THE END OF SEX AND THE FUTURE

The Violist Thought Experiment

One day you wake up in a hospital connected to a famous violinist who is unconscious The hospital director informs you that you have been kidnapped by the Society of Music Lovers and hooked up to the violinist because he temporarily needs your kidneys to survive After nine months he will be unplugged You'll suffer no lasting harm Intuition: The violinist's right to life does not give him a right to your assistance Assisting him amounts to being a Good Samaritan The GSA now continues as follows: 1. Terminating a pregnancy with abortion is morally analogous to disconnecting the violinist 2. Disconnecting the violinist is morally permissible 3. Therefore, abortion is morally permissible PROBLEMS AND UPSHOT FOR THE GSA A typical abortion is a killing of a human organism Thomson's scenario involves a letting die The violinist and you are total strangers, while the mother and her fetus are not The duty to assist may vary accordingly In Thomson's scenario, you are not responsible for violinist's need of your assistance In abortion, the woman is responsible for the pregnancy (except in cases of rape or perhaps contraceptive failure) Limited success: The GSA offers a reason for considering abortion permissible in some non-responsibility situations where The mother was raped, under-aged, or mentally impaired Contraceptives failed

PARADIGM AND NONPARADIGM PERSONS

Paradigm Person Some of the best candidates among the capacities that are sufficient for being a paradigm person Being self-conscious Having rational thought Having a sense of time Being able to envisage a future for oneself Nonparadigm Person Any human who lacks the capacities necessary for being a person Human embryos, fetuses, and newborns lack these capacities, though they will come to have them in the natural course of development Anencephalic infants such as baby Theresa Permanently unconscious individuals used to possess these capacities, but have lost them

Planned Parenthood VS Casey

Pennsylvania law that required spousal awareness prior to obtaining an abortion was invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment because it created an undue burden on married women seeking an abortion

Animal Liberation

Peter Singer: Argues against speciesism Concept of personhood: based on sentience Argues for vegetarianism

Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell

Professors of Animal Development at the University of Nottingham, was a British biologist who was a member of the team that in 1996 first cloned a mammal, a Finnish Dorset lamb named Dolly, from fully differentiated adult mammary cells.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer(SCNT)

Removal of a nucleus from virtually any cell of the body (a somatic cell) Transferred by injection into an unfertilized egg (from which that nucleus also has been removed) Newly reconstituted entity then starts dividing

Reproductive Cloning vs Human Therapeutic Cloning

Reproductive cloning involves creating an animal that is genetically identical to a donor animal through somatic cell nuclear transfer. ... In therapeutic cloning, an embryo is created in a similar way, but the resulting "cloned" cells remain in a dish in the lab; they are not implanted into a female's uterus.

Current Leglastion : Kentucky (Abortion)

SB 164, proposed February 20, 2018 Would ban abortion in Kentucky, except in cases of rape, incest, and certain medical situations States that "an unborn fetus is a person and should be afforded equal protection under the law" Would prohibit a person from intentionally performing or inducing an abortion unless the pregnancy: Is the result of rape or incest; or Poses a threat to the pregnant person's life or a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function But a physician's diagnosis would be reviewed by a panel of licensed physicians established by the hospital This would not apply in cases of medical emergency HB 473, proposed February 26, 2018 Proposes an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution to clarify that the state Constitution does not create a right to abortion or a right to funding for an abortion Would specify that General Assembly has full authority to protect human life "from the moment of fertilization until natural death without regard to age, health, or condition of dependency" If passed, the amendment would be submitted to the voters of Kentucky

Status of unused frozen embryos in the Untited STATES

SURPLUS OF EMBRYOS >1.7 million created for IVF pregnancies have been discarded without being used ≈ half of embryos used in IVF discarded during or after the process No clear idea how many frozen embryos exist Estimated to be 400,000 in the United States 2017: woman gave birth using embryo frozen for 24 years; mom only 1 year older than embryo 2018: freezer malfunctions in fertility clinics (e.g., > 4,000 eggs and embryos in Ohio) Options ... Keep frozen Donate to another infertile couple Donate to research Destroy

Right to open furture

She conceptualizes the child's autonomy as, what Feinberg coined, "the child's right to an open future," meaning a right to have one's future options kept open until one is capable of making one's own decisions.

CRITERIA OF PERSONHOOD: RIGHTS-BASED

Some see personhood as a right A sort of ticket to the moral community One that can be forfeited if you violate the laws of society in a major way In this view, you can surrender your own personhood through grossly inhumane actions Implications? Personhood then depends on a society's laws (which can be unethical/unjust) Allows for a justification for capital punishment E.g., killing people is wrong, they might say But if a criminal has surrendered their personhood through their actions Then s/he is no longer a person anymore So we, as members of the State, would think ourselves justified in this killing But is capital punishment ethical?

Intereset Views( Regarding Animal RIghts )

Speciesism • The discrimination against those who don't belong to a certain species • The assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of animals Anthropocentrism • "human-centeredness" ... grants "moral standing" solely to human beings • A philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world Egalitarianism • An ethical theory that defends that a situation is best if the happiness present in that situation is distributed as equally as possible • The view that we should aim at favoring the worse off by reducing inequality • Egalitarianism implies rejecting speciesism, and in practice it prescribes ceasing to exploit nonhuman animals as well as assisting them • Because animals are worse off in comparison to humans, egalitarianism prescribes giving priority to the interests of nonhuman animals Zoocentrism • A viewpoint or theory that

Bodily tissues that can be bought and sold in the United States

Sperm and EGGS

Early Views of Animal rights

St. Thomas Aquinas • "it is no wrong for man to make use of [animals], either by killing them or in any other way whatever" Rene Descartes • Cogito ergo sum • "animals are equivalent to windup clocks, or mechanisms without feelings" Immanuel Kant • Our duties to animals are indirect • Derive from our to duty to respect and foster the ends of humanity (2nd CI) • Cruelty to animals leads to cruelty to humans • In the self-interest of humanity to treat animals humanely, at least most of the time John Stuart Mill • Following Bentham, classical utilitarians think that moral standing hinges on sentience • When an action affects a sentient being, its moral permissibility depends on the net amount of resulting pleasure over pain it produces for all concerned • All sentient beings have an interest in avoiding suffering and remaining alive • Some also have other interests grounded in their complex psychological capacities • Beings with more complex psychological capacities have more at stake than those with simpler ones ©

Dena Davis (1997)

The primary argument against deliberately seeking to produce deaf children is that it violates the child's own autonomy and narrows the scope of her choices when she grows up" (p. 9) The objection is independent of how deafness is conceived As a disability, the deaf child will have certain societal disadvantages later in life (i.e., fewer career, marriage, and cultural options) Say that "deliberately creating a deaf child is a moral harm" (p. 14)

Biotic Community

a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting same region and interacting with each other "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Land Ethic

a philosophy or theoretical framework about how, ethically, humans should regard the land. The term was coined by Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) in his A Sand County Almanac (1949), a classic text of the environmental movement.

Easy PGD

a procedure used prior to implantation to help identify genetic defects within embryos. ... The embryos used in PGD are usually created during the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Sufficientarianism

a theory of distributive justice. Rather than being concerned with inequalities as such or with making the situation of the least well off as good as possible, sufficientarian justice aims at making sure that each of us has enough

Bobbi McCaughey and Nadya Suleman

are six male and two female children conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and subsequently born to Nadya Suleman on January 26, 2009, in Bellflower, California, United States. They currently reside in Lancaster, California. They are only the second full set of octuplets to be born alive in the United States and, having survived more than a week, surpassed the previous worldwide survival rate for a complete set of octuplets set by the Chukwu octuplets of 1998. The extremely controversial circumstances of their high order multiple birth has led to debate in the field of assisted reproductive technology as well as an investigation by the Medical Board of California of the fertility specialist involved, regarding the transfer of twelve embryos at once.[1]

Human Embryonic Stem Cells

are stem cells derived from the undifferentiated inner mass cells of a human embryo. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they are able to grow (i.e. differentiate) into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm

Biotic Community

coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting organisms living together in a habitat (biotope).

Eclogical Holism

concerns the biotic community

Natilism

is a belief that promotes human reproduction. The term is taken from the Latin adjective form for "birth", natalis. Natalism promotes child-bearing and parenthood as desirable for social reasons and to ensure the continuance of humanity.

Sex Selection Abortion

is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant.

Selective Reduction

multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR), or selective termination is the practice of reducing the number of fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy, say quadruplets, to a twin or singleton pregnancy.

Genetic Enhancement

refers to the transfer of genetic material intended to modify nonpathological human traits.

Anthropocentric

regarding humankind as the central or most important element of existence, especially as opposed to God or animals.

Expessivist Argument

the Eugenics Argument says that screening out disability is wrong because it is a form of eugenics. This chapter defends the view that this argument cannot overcome certain problems: notably the fact that, on the most sensible definitions of 'eugenics', eugenics is not necessarily wrong. However, it should be noted that there are objectionable forms of eugenics (e.g. those which attempt to pass off racism or 'genetic discrimination' as 'genetic improvement'). The Expressivist Argument says that what is wrong with selecting out disability is that it sends out a negative and damaging message: that the world would be a better place if people with disabilities did not exist. It is argued that screening out does not necessarily send out a morally problematic message provided that it is done for defensible reasons (such as the avoidance of suffering) and is not presented or carried out in an insensitive way.

ART Regulations

the US Unregulated by federal government Mostly privately financed, at prices driven by the market IVF success rate about 28% Self-regulation by two associations of physicians who provide such reproductive assistance and therefore have a stake in it In the UK IVF costs are covered by NHS and also privately Parliament's attempts at addressing the concerns involved in the use of ARTs: The 1984 Warnock report The 1990 Code of Practice of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act The founding of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Personhood

the quality or condition of being an individual person

Artificial Reproduction Technology (ART)

the technology used to achieve pregnancy in procedures such as fertility medication, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy. It is reproductive technology used primarily for infertility treatments, and is also known as fertility treatment.

Moral Repuganance

to excite nausea or loathing in; sicken. 2. To offend the taste or moral sense of; repel. n. Profound dislike or annoyance caused by something sickening or offensive.