The author, Yann Joly, supports their argument against legislation to protect genetic rights with three main points. The first point that the article mentions is that genetic discrimination cannot be “accurately described as a widespread practice within the life-insurance industry.” The author supports this with the fact that the practice of genetic discrimination has been found only in the context of Huntington’s disease, this being discovered after more than twenty years of trying to document genetic discrimination. The author also argues that “separating genetic information from other types of health information in law could promote the erroneous belief that most genes are the sole causes of disease.” In the opinion of the author, this could promote the…
One aspect of his argument lies in the following claim regarding the relativity of values: “The fundamental faulty premise in the argument for paternalistic role differentiation for doctors is that which assumes that health or prolonged life must take absolute priority in the patient’s value orderings” (67). Goldman states that in reality, individuals do not consistently act in order to minimize loss of life although the long-term preference is to live long. If individuals did prioritize minimum loss of life constantly, all efforts would be strictly directed towards health-related areas. This is not the case, for “to realize or preserve those values that give meaning to life is worth the risk of life itself” (68). Therefore, Goldman states that it is illogical for a doctor to determine what is best for the patient when such doctor cannot speak for what the patient’s set of values and priorities. While a doctor believes health is number one in priority, the individual may not always hold health as number one at all…
In the essay “The Case Against Perfection” author Michael J. Sandel states that with the recent genetic breakthroughs our society is now faced with both a “promise and a predicament” (p.1.) This knowledge will know allow us to further treat and cure a wash of crippling diseases. Nevertheless, despite this miraculous breakthrough this discovery also open what seems to be a Pandora’s Box filled with concerns for moral prevalence, malpractice, and even perhaps the loss of free will to offspring. All of which leaves the users or perspective wielders of such power with a case of what Michael Sandel describes simply as a case of “moral vertigo” (p. 1.) Just like the original Pandora’s Box however, Sandel reveals…
As we get older you start to have a better understanding of ethics and you can start differentiating between what is right and what is wrong. Through the ethical lens inventory exercise not only was I surprised when seeing the results and being able to relate to it but also learned more about myself that I did not know beforehand. Through the ethical lens exercise I learned what my ethical lens was and my blind spot, my strengths and weaknesses, and my values and the resultant behaviors.…
According to the ethical lens inventory, my personal ethic perspective demonstrates how my reasoning skills and intuition are equally balanced to determine how to accomplish my duties while ensuring that people are treated equally. My ethical perspective indicates that I make responsible choices that I feel are good for everyone, being responsible is a great ethic to have. I believe that by being responsible show maturity. My core values autonomy and rationality, I like to ensure that individual rights are protected. I feel that everyone should be treated fairly at all times. When I am working in a team I like to make sure that each individual is treated the same, and that…
If you are not currently working as a teaching assistant, you may need to do some research in order to fully answer these questions.…
Some of the pros include providing a sense of relief to parents who are concerned and uncertain of the possibility of their child having a disorder (if the test is negative), if it is bad news, at least the parents can be prepared mentally as to what they can be faced with. Early detection is key, if detected early, a plan can be set in place as to the future doctor's appointments, accommodations for the child, and possible surgeries if needed to plan ahead. Also, if diagnosed early, appropriate treatment can be given to the fetus before and after birth if necessary (Lea, Williams & Donahue, 2005, pp. 234-240). Genetic conditions often run in the family, defective genes may be carried from generation to generation whether physically present or not. Information gathered from testing can also help members of the family to be on high alert when planning for children of their own (Kuehn, 2008, pp. 1637-1639). The "Prenatal Genome Testing Sparks Debate" article describes another pro although difficulty to consider, as the parents having the choice to terminate the pregnancy if they feel that the responsibility of their baby's condition is too much (2008). On the other hand, some of the cons include creating anxiety for the parents because of the testing and the results to come. But as mentioned above, one of the problems with genetic and prenatal testing is that it gives false results. The person has to know going into the test that there is a possibility that a negative test can turn out to be positive and that a positive test can turn out to be negative (Schmitz, 2013, pp. 357-364). Another con is the view on terminating the pregnancy if indeed the child has an abnormality. Especially religious groups feel that regardless of chromosomal abnormalities, terminating is not right. This can also cause trouble between the mother and father as well (Schmitz, 2013, pp. 357-364). As mentioned above, the cost of…
I believe that the Eugenics program had many issues, both technical and ethical. The basis of the Eugenics program - that an individual’s life can be seen as “a burden” and not worth society’s resources - brings up multiple moral arguments. Who is the judge of whether a life is more valuable than another? Does this not give government workers and referrers the jurisdiction to play God? Inherently, this program had a multitude of factors that were not taken into account. One issue is the measurements used to quantify whether a person should have the right to reproduce or not. The qualifications were too unclear, and a range of reasons were used, from IQ tests, mental illness, handicaps, and even sexual promiscuity. Moreover, while the program was active, the state did not clarify who should make the final decisions. Unlike most states, in which medical professionals mainly acted as the final word, North Carolina allowed social workers, medical professionals, teachers, and even neighbors to have a say in who could possibly be sterilized. Many of these individuals reported unsuspecting…
Working in the couseling field in my opinion can be very hard when you are faced with value neutral situations. I believe one must remain neutral about issues that a client is suffering from. It is human nature to have personal opinions, especially when it comes to hot topics such as abortion, suicide, adultery, drug use, domestic violence, and child abuse. Within this paper, one will locate personal beliefs on ethical decisions, factors that might lead a counselor to referring a client to another counselor and, what would a counselor do if a referral is not an option.…
Our topic was on selective human breeding, or in other words eugenics. If you don’t know what eugenics is don’t worry I’ll tell you, according to Oxford dictionaries eugenics is the science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Desirable heritable characteristics for example can be things like a particular eye color, hair color, height, etc. My question to you all is if you think eugenics is ethical or not? I want to hear your answer after I give you my reasons of why I don’t believe eugenics is ethical. Now this might not sound like such a controversial topic but the history of eugenics is not exactly a bright one. Now everyone knows how WWII began, and the people responsible for it. Hitler and his henchmen victimized an entire continent, murdered millions, during his search for what he called the “Master Race.” His vision of the ideal race was white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed, but contrary to popular belief, this idea of the “Master Race” did not originate with Hitler. The idea came from the United States and its eugenics program. The E.R.O also known as the Eugenics Record Office was founded on 1910 in New York. A thing that not many people know is that the United States actually had one of the largest eugenic movements in the world. Eugenics was used by scientists as a way to control people, by that I mean they would use various research methods, hereditary questionnaires, and interviewing groups with special interests. The E.R.O. was able to convince the U.S. government to administer eugenic laws nationwide. This included immigration and marriage restrictions, race segregation, and forced sterilization of criminals and who was seen as undesirable. Well what is forced sterilization you ask? To simplify it for males it’s a vasectomy and for woman it’s a tubal ligation, getting your tubes tied.…
By knowing our own values and beliefs it helps to realise that others have different values and beliefs, and to have a positive helping relationship. They have to respect everyone’s values and beliefs. The counsellor has to remain non-judgmental and non- bias.…
As the BMJ medical ethics articles state “Most of us want to have children. We want them to be healthy and have a good start in life. One way to achieve this goal is to use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD enables people engaged in the process of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to acquire information about the genetic constitution of an early embryo. On the basis of this information, a decision can be made to transfer embryos without genetic defects to the uterus and terminate those with genetic…
Moreover, primarily counselors are responsible for the entire treatment process for their clients. This relationship often entails a variety of settings, such as private practice offices or working in organizational environments. On occasions these external factors influence personal values, ground rules, and ethics. I work for a non-profit organization and there are many experiences endured during a day’s work that requires making a decision. I have developed decision-making styles, which I follow consistently in a work day. These decision-making styles differ by the circumstances presented in each case. My values determining my…
Morality and the Human Genome Project Does the Human Genome Project affect the moral standards of society? Can the information produced by it become a beneficial asset or a moral evil? For example, in a genetic race or class distinction the use of the X chromosome markers can be used for the identification of a persons ethnicity or class (Murphy,34). A seemingly harmless collection of information from the advancement of the Human Genome Project. But, lets assume this information is used to explore ways to deny entry into countries, determine social class, or even who gets preferential treatment.…
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