Professional Responsibility for the Welfare of Potential Life

Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2016

Within the realm of bioethics, the construction of pregnancy classically has focused on principle-based ethics, essentially separating maternal and fetal interests. Respect for maternal autonomy becomes distinct from an obligation of fetal beneficence, placing practitioners in complicated ethical situations when the goals of pregnant women may be at odds with the best health interests of the fetus as defined by both professional groups and society in general. As a result, clinical care is framed by an ethical “maternal–fetal conflict,” with important downstream legal and policy consequences for the well-being of pregnant women. Developments in the social sciences highlight the value of attending to the biosocial realm that a pregnant woman inhabits rather than relating to her and to her fetus as discrete entities. By understanding the needs, concerns, and context within which a woman lives, clinicians can practice an ethics of accompaniment. With a focus on an ethics of accompanimen...

American Journal of Perinatology, 2014

Fetal diagnosis has raised ethical issues since it was first developed in the 1940s and 1950s. Two controversial issues have predominated. First, when the techniques for prenatal diagnosis were invasive techniques, they created risks to the pregnant women. Second, prenatal diagnosis led to either prenatal treatment, which also generally had some risks to the pregnant woman, or to abortion, which has always been ethically controversial. In this article, we will review the history of ethical controversy over fetal diagnosis and discuss how they presage today's controversies.

2013

1996

This article surveys relevant moral and ethical implications of reproductive medicine, excluding any aspects of contraception. To maintain the methodological priority of a moral perspective, it focuses on moral theory and ethics in general before looking at the impact of ethics on the different techniques applied in reproductive medicine. We suggest that discourse ethics should be centre-stage among the moral perspectives, since it has a unique capacity to synthesize, gauge and emulate other moral perspectives without necessarily replacing them. Questions of spousal fidelity, parental identity, sexual relations, reshaping of family ties, preimplantation diagnosis, discarding of human life, up to the question of what kind of life is generally acknowledged as worth living, and which is not, all these are morally significant topics. As well as providing a description of the techniques used in reproductive medicine, our article presents a rationale for charting potentials for moral problems. This renders it possible to elucidate the moral costs of each of the options offered by reproductive medicine in the light of whatever moral view one identifies with.

Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, 2010

Sound ethical reasoning and moral judgment are essential to the work of a physician. Obstetricians make ethically complex decisions on a daily basis. Clinical medical ethics is a discipline that provides a structured approach for identifying, analyzing, and resolving ethical issues in clinical medicine. Obstetricians must become comfortable addressing the ethical issues involved in clinical obstetrics and therefore must have an understanding of the key elements of clinical medical ethics. Balancing the principles of medical ethics can guide clinicians toward solutions to ethical dilemmas encountered in the care of pregnant women. In situations that seem to pit the interests of pregnant women against the interests of their fetuses, clinicians must be prepared to identify the key issues and relevant ethical aspects in cases encountered to find a solution in the mother-fetus dyad. This article is not intended to turn the reader into an expert on medical ethics. The purpose of this article is to review the ethical foundations of clinical practice, recognize the ethical issues obstetricians face every day in caring for patients, and facilitate decision making. This article discusses the relevant ethical principles, identifies unique features of obstetric ethics, examines ethical principles as they apply to the mother and fetus, and thereby, provides a conceptual framework for considering ethical issues and facilitating decision making in clinical obstetrics. Obstetrical ethics can be considered a branch of medical ethics pertaining to the particular aspects and unique ethical issues specific to obstetrics. The obstetrician The author has nothing to disclose.

General Hospital Psychiatry, 2004

In this article, we discuss the ethical dilemma health care providers faced when Rebecca, a pregnant schizophrenic patient who lacked decision-making capacity, inconsistently requested elective pregnancy termination. When a patient's decision-making capacity is severely impaired, how does the physician balance obligations to protect the patient from harm (beneficence) while also respecting her reproductive preferences and decisions (respect for autonomy)?

Australasian Psychiatry, 2019

Objective: Psychiatrists may become involved in circumstances where a child is seeking termination of pregnancy. Potential roles include capacity advice and advocacy, but ethical and legal uncertainties abound. This paper uses illustrative cases, in an Australian jurisdiction, to exemplify the issues. Conclusion: Termination of pregnancy at the youthful extreme raises unique challenges for all involved.

Donald School Journal of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2021

This paper addresses the moral status of the embryo based on the ethical concept of the embryo as a patient. This concept is explained by appealing to the ethical principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy and the professional virtue of integrity. The clinical implications of the ethical concept of the embryo as a patient are explored in both in vitro fertilization and nondirective counseling about a newly initiated pregnancy. The purpose of the counseling process should be to integrate beneficence with respect for autonomy to guide a professionally responsible counseling process that is designed to empower the woman to make informed decisions about initiating and continuing pregnancy.

International journal of nursing practice, 2016

This paper explores the challenging and contentious issue of abortion and its ethical, legal and political significance regarding public health. It is intended as an educational guide for health-care professionals. A comprehensive search strategy of international health, law and political source materials was undertaken in order to benchmark from international approaches to abortion. Test cases illustrate the application of legislation, ethical, political and cultural issues surrounding abortion. Abortion is a complex contemporary issue where balancing the well-being of both the mother and the unborn has prompted considerable international discourse. The right to life of the woman and the unborn continues to lie in tension. Ambiguity surrounds the concept of personhood, and the inception of human life prevails across many International jurisdictions. Health-care professionals must be well informed in order to respond safely and appropriately to a diverse range of clinical scenarios ...