Bioethics:- Do you Agree with Dr.Nuckols??

Dr. Beverly B. Nuckols states, ““Bioethics” has become the formal study of who we can kill and enslave by designating them not human-enough to possess the basic human rights not to be killed or enslaved.” (Nuckols, 2010)

First of all, what is bioethics?

According to Michigan State University’s Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences; Bioethics is an activity; it is a shared, reflective examination of ethical issues in health care, health science, and health policy. There are many inter and multi disciplinary fields in bioethics, which I believe is due to the fact that it encompasses issues across all the life sciences. The basic goals of bioethics are an effort to successfully apply moral reasoning to the issues that require ethical insight.

Now, Do I agree with Dr. Nuckols on his statement?

I believe, in my limited understanding, that bioethics is more of an empirical approach to the moral landscape of sciences. We use bioethics to weigh the consequences of our actions and see if our decisions have valuable consequences, on either side of the issue. I also believe that using rational thought in some case studies may seem quite unethical and inhumane, because we do not consider or disregard the importance of human moral standards.  For example, Obama Administration had signed an executive order lifting the restrictive ban upon embryonic stem cell research on March 9, 2009. (CBSNews, 2009)  This had instigated a great deal of moral and ethical issues, for embryos for stem cell research are usually obtained from fertility and abortion clinics. Now, if a woman is given financial compensation to donate her embryo to stem cell research, there is a likelihood that she will. Also, looking at embryos with a clinical eye, more stem cells can be harvested from an older embryo, giving rise to another issue of where is the line drawn of when it becomes infanticide. (GSLC, 2014)  So I do agree with Dr. Nuckols, absolutely when dealing with human biological material, that this field is where we try to answer to ourselves, how far we can toe the line before it becomes scientific research for the betterment of the general public or pure murder.

References:-

GSLC "The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over?." The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over?. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. < http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/stemcells/scissues/>

"Obama Ends Stem Cell Research Ban." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-ends-stem-cell-research-ban/

The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over? (n.d.). Michigan State University Retrieved March 15, 2014, from http://www.bioethics.msu.edu/about/whatisbioethics