Is it ethical for deaf parents to choose to have deaf children?

BioEdge

Michael Cook*

. . . There is a growing body of literature to support the right of deaf parents to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to select for deaf children. Jacqueline Mae Wallis, a philosopher at the University of Bristol (UK), contends in the journal Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy that this is morally permissible. . . [Full text]

Medical conscience for me, but not for thee

Promoting a one-way conscience right favouring the medical intelligentsia

National Review

Wesley J. Smith*

Medical conscience for me, but not for theeThe New York Times has published an opinion column by cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar that decries the Trump administration’s increased enforcement of medical conscience. But he actually promotes a one-way conscience right that favors protecting the predominate ideological views of the medical intelligentsia, while forcing dissenters to sacrifice their own religious and moral beliefs. . . [Full text]

Bioethics Intends to Destroy Catholic Healthcare

National Review
Reproduced with permission

Wesley J. Smith*

I have been following — and criticizing — the bioethics movement for more than twenty years . . . Most bioethicists, it is fair to say, seek to destroy Catholic institutions’ and professionals’ medical conscience rights and force them (and other religious or conscience dissenters) to adhere to the advancing utilitarian bioethical imperative. . .[Full text]

A Philosophical Defense of Conscientious Objection to Abortion

Medical Bag

Medical Bag Contributing Writer

In an article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Bruce Philip Blackshaw of the department of philosophy at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and Daniel Rodger from the School of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, United Kingdom, defended conscientious objection to abortion provision, claiming that the usual arguments critics make for disqualifying conscientious objection in healthcare do not apply in cases of abortion. . . [Full text]

The Role of Nurses When Patients Decide to End Their Lives

Some hospitals and hospices have policies that forbid nurses to be part of the process or even to discuss end-of-life options.

New York Times

Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi

When Ben Wald, 75, was dying of cancer in 2012, he wanted to use Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act to receive a prescription for a lethal medication that would end his life. His hospice nurse, Linda, was part of the discussion and provided both information and support, said his wife, Pam Wald, of Kings Valley, Ore.

His colon cancer had spread to his lungs, and his weight dropped from 180 to 118 pounds. He struggled to speak or eat.

When he was ready to end his life, the couple wanted Linda with them, but the hospice organization she worked for did not allow it, Mrs. Wald said. The organization allowed other hospice workers, such as social workers and massage therapists, to be present, but not the doctors or nurses it employed. . . [Full text]