Aubrey Searle

Jeff Zealley HS 2050

12/4/2017
This I believe; At the End of the Semester
1. Patient autonomy should stop when: I would say that it should stop when a person
cant make rational decisions for themselves whether it be from cognitive delays or
mental illness, but I only believe that to a certain extent. I know that people who are
terminal, and want to use physician assisted suicide, should have their request taken
into consideration. It would save them from the suffering theyll put themselves and
family through. Autonomy sadly must be stopped in the event a person is completely
incapacitated, and hopefully the closest relative knows what preference the patient had
for treatment.
2. Medical research should: revolve around getting informed consent when operations
or treatments are provided. I still believe that medical research is important to
breakthroughs in medicine, but the participants in such studies need to know exactly
whats going to be happening to them, and if they cant understand they need to be
passed up in the study.
3. Genetic testing for the future should: be used for the benefit of the fetus and the
parents. I would hope that in the future that diagnosing problems will provide with more
accurate results than it does today. Some tests are uncertain in their predictions that
something may be wrong with the fetus. These inaccurate or vague diagnoses put
parents in an uncomfortable situation in deciding if they want to carry on with a
pregnancy. Id hope, with more research, that tests will be more so accurate so that
parents can be prepared for whatever may come after birth.
4. Egg and sperm donation should be: legal, but certain limitations should apply. I think
its important that the donators are honest about their own personal health, and not
focused on compensation from donation. I can see that making so much money from
donating eggs and sperm can cause someone to lie about their health, this could cause
problems with the childs own health, and parents who use the egg or sperm would
have to deal with the consequences.
5. Abortion should: be legal, though I personally do not agree with abortion in some
situations. Children should not be aborted if they are viable outside of utero, except if
the pregnancy would cause harm to the mother. I still believe that women should be
able to make decisions about their own body.
6. Treating or terminating impaired infants should be decided by: If the child is born
impaired I believe the doctors should treat the child as best as possible. If the child
cannot function without life support, the parents should be able to determine if they
should let the child go. If the child can lead a healthy, but abnormal life, they should be
given the chance to live. If the problem is found in utero early enough to terminate the
pregnancy, then it should be up to the parents on what they wish to do with the fetus.
7. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should be: practiced in certain situations.
If a person is in their right mind and are terminal, or will have poor quality of life, we
should grant them the right to physician-assisted suicide. I dont believe that you should
prolong some ones suffering if they are in excruciating amounts of pain, whether it be
from certain diseases such as cancer, or other illnesses that would result in someone
losing their bodily functions. I would allow the person to make the decision for
themselves so that they can keep their autonomy and dignity in the end.
8. Payment to organ donors or their families should be: illegal. I dont agree with having
an organ market. This would make it harder for poor people to receive organs. Poor
people would be more inclined to lie about their health when donating as well. People
who are more financially well off, might not get the quality organs they are paying for.
9. Allocation of health care should not be considered based on a person's age/quality of
life/ability to pay. Everyone should have access to healthcare regardless of their
situation in life. If everyone had access to health care wed have a healthier, happier
society. People should not go into debt or die because they dont have proper health
insurance. At the same time universal healthcare would make it harder to get into see
specialists and doctors as waiting times would go up.
10. Medical research for women should: be expanded. More testing needs to be done
on women participants in clinical studies. Most clinical studies are made up of men. Men
and women have different bodies, which is why we need to conduct research with more
diversity. I dont think we should be focusing research only on gender, but also different
races and ethnicities. By expanding research, more lives could be saved.
11. Health care for minorities should be: the same as everyone else. Healthcare should
be the same for everyone. There should be no prejudice when practicing medicine.
Everyone has the right to be treated. If a healthcare provider shows any signs of
prejudice they should be reprimanded. Hospitals need to apply sensitivity training, and
how they should treat everyone with respect and dignity regardless of personal
prejudice.
12. Those with AIDS/HIV should be treated without prejudice. These people should be
able to have access to treatment, and medication so that they can live longer, more
successful lives. They need to be strongly urged to disclose their illness to previous and
future lovers to prevent the virus from spreading. Regarding starting a family, I think
people who are positive for the virus should be urged to reconsider reproducing in the
traditional way, but instead they can use a surrogate.
13. My opinion has somewhat changed on the topics of 2,4,5,8 as more information
became available to me. I still feel that my opinion has stayed the same. Im glad that
during the semester I was able to gather more information to reinforce how I feel, and
information about how the other side of the situation feels about the subject. I believe
that knowing what the opposition has to say makes you a more informed individual and
teaches you to think for yourself.
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