Additionally, the utilitarian position presents the advantage of objectively quantifying the interests of everyone affected by the decision, for the sole purpose of promoting common welfare. Thus, harvesting, fertilizing, genetically screening, implanting and researching human embryos at the risk of damaging or destroying them - is entirely justified from this perspective, and any progressive endeavor is encouraged.
Nevertheless, this approach might involuntarily discourage many IVF clients as it appears to be too rigid and provides them with little autonomy in making decisions regarding their own embryos. Interestingly, a utilitarian might not even support IVF treatment, due to the risks involved in the whole process - namely a large financial loss if the process should fail -, an therefore it is uncertain whether or not this infertility treatment would meet the Utilitarian requirements of avoiding pain and creating the most amount of happiness; there might be a lot of future un-happiness more so than future happiness. Moreover, the IVF treatment is designed to unfold over a long period of time and might not be completed due to an unforeseen complication. In an extensive interpretation, Utilitarianism from an IVF onset may be seriously faulty, because the future is uncertain to the extent that it is virtually impossible to infer whether or not the baby grows up to become helpful for others and create happiness later in life.
On the other hand, if the Ethics of Care approach is solely used, it might cause a demand for greater storage facilities and bring about the closure of clinics as expansion for embryo storage would be impossible. The common morality theory by W. Frankena and W.D. Ross holds that beneficence and justice are the two major principles of morality (Beauchamp and Childress 330). These theorists contend that a person's acts, motivation or character may be right or wrong, but that, overall, good should be greater than evil. Therefore, taking a valuable ethical standpoint in the IVF debate would involve the efficient application of multiple moral principles, rules, and virtues.
Besides moral virtues such as respect for autonomy, non-malevolence, beneficence and justice, caring is a crucial moral principle. According to Watson (49), "a transpersonal caring relationship in which the nurse is able to assess and apprehend the experience of another, to feel a union with the other and to take care of the other's needs epitomizes an ethic of care." In this light, it can be asserted that, in order to actively optimize the...
Personhood Amendment in Mississippi Judith Jarvis Thomson's essay "A Defense of Abortion" and the proposed Mississippi Constitutional Amendment In Mississippi, a bill that advocated an extreme position on abortion rights was submitted to voters. It was ultimately rejected, despite the fact that Mississippi is a very conservative state. The constitutional amendment would have declared a fertilized human egg to be a legal person, not only equating abortion with murder under the law,
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Going back further, the same religious principals also inspired opposition to organ transplants and blood transfusions; before that, the Catholic Church strictly forbade any forensic scientific research, necessitating the need to dissect cadavers for medical education entirely in secret (Levine, 2008). Just as the news media are partially at fault today for their failure to distinguish legitimate concerns from ludicrous fears in connection with the ongoing political debate over American
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