Terri Schiavo Case

In 1990, at the age of 26, Terri suffered a mysterious cardio-respiratory arrest for which no cause has ever been determined . She was diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy - neuorlogical injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain . It was also said that she struggled with Bulimia and possible abuse from her spouse . Terri was then placed on a ventilator, but was soon able to breathe on her own and maintain vital function . She remained in a severely compromised neuorlogical state and was provided a PEG tube to ensure the safe delivery of nourishment and hydration . On March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of marked dehydration following more than 13 days without nutrition or hydration under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pascho's Sixth Judicial Court . Terri was 41 .

Terri Schiavo died due to the removal of her feeding tube, having been starved and dehydrated to death . I think that even though it would be good to allow Terri to rest in a better place, it was wrong to starve her to death . She was still technicaly alive even though she was in a coma, and being starved and dehydrated to death wouldn't be the best option . There could have been other ways to "pull the plug". I still think that it was a good idea to pull the plug, however . She seemed to be unhappy with her life, looking back at how she was bulimic and possibly abused by her husband . For all we know, she may have been trying to end her life . She may have been so unhappy with herself and her life that she wanted to end her life, so then keeping her alive wouldn't have been good for her . She wasn't really living her life like she should have been at her age, and for 15 years she stayed in the state of her coma . If I were her, I would have wanted people to "pull my plug". If you read the article here, you will see that it is said that some patients that come out of a coma have to relearn the most basic human skills . It could be possible that Terri, after 15 years of being in a coma, would have to relearn basic skills such as talking . Terri was 41 at the time of her death, and if she were to have to relearn all these basic skills, then wouldn't it be best to just rest in a better place ? If you were 41 and you had to relearn all these things, wouldn't it be frustrating ? I think that it was best to end Terri's life, but I also think that there could have been an alternative to ending her life through the removal of her feeding tube .

Gattaca & Natal Spectrum

Gattaca is a film that has to do with bioethics . The main character of the movie is Vincent (aka Gerome) . He is an in-valid, or a natural born . He wasn't genetically changed like his brother . In ways, I guess you could say that he felt inferior because he was an in-valid . Until one day, he meets Gerome Morrow . Gerome is a valid . But he's not like other vailds . He's paralyzed from the waist down . He stepped in front of a car, causing himself to become paralyzed . To sum it up, Vincent pretty much becomes Gerome . Gerome puts his samples in pouches for Vincent to use to pass off as a valid . And eventually, "Gerome" (Vincent) begins to work at Gattaca, which is a space board . Then a murder occurs at Gattaca . "Gerome" goes to check it out, and his eyelash falls off and floats onto the edge . The crime scene investigators find it, and have it scanned to find that the eyelash belonged to an in-valid . They become suspicious that the in-valid may have been the murderer, and starts a search . They have frequent samples taken from the employees at Gattaca, causing a lot of worries for "Gerome". Towards the end, they find out that the in-valid had nothing to do with the murder, and instead, it was a completely different person that had committed the murder . Then, "Gerome" finds out that the crime investigator is really his brother . They have another game of Chicken, which is when they both swim out as far as they can into the ocean, and whoever turns around to go back to shore is the 'chicken'. "Gerome" surprisingly not only beats his brother, but also saves his life by helping him back to shore . Then after more minor things happen in the movie, Vincent is finally going off into space, and Gerome decides to end his life because he had hated the feeling of always being inferior to others .

I think that this movie wasn't bad . I got confused at some parts because it was a lot to take in, but other than that, it was a nice movie . It definitely had me thinking about the possibilities of changing people genetically, before birth, and definitely had a lot to do about bioethics .

9 Natal Bioethical Issues from Least Controversial to Most Controversial

1. Natural Reproduction

2. Carrier Testing - Genetic tests of parents that show the risk of passing on a genetic disorder

3. Prenatal Testing - genetic screening of fetus for genes that cause disorders

4. Artificial Insemination - Insertion of sperm into female reproductive tract by syringe in a doctor’s office

5. Fertility Drugs - Prescription drugs which increase a woman’s chance of becoming pregnant

6. In Vitro Fertilization - Fertilization of sperm and egg in a Petri dish. Viable embryos are chosen and inserted into the female reproductive tract via a syringe in a doctor’s office.

7. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Diseases - Fertilization of sperm and egg in a Petri dish. Embryos are screened for a certain genetic disorder. Those without the defective gene are inserted into the female reproductive tract via a syringe in a doctor’s office.

8. Cloning - The creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another .

9. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Non-deleterious Traits - Fertilization of sperm and egg in a Petri dish. Embryos are screened for genes of non-deleterious traits (such as hair color, height, sex). Those with desired genes are inserted into the female reproductive tract via a syringe in a doctor’s office.

I chose to order my list in this way, because of my ideas of what's right and wrong . Natural reproduction for me is the least controversial, because it doesn't involve any changing, or any artificial components, it's all natural . I believe that Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Non-deleterious Traits is the most controversial because it involves picking out the traits of your child, which is something that we discussed in class . That, and cloning are at around the same level, because they are both, in my opinion, two topics that many people can argue about . Prenatal and Carrier testing are also consider two of the least controversial because in my eyes, they are both for positive reasons . They are both to see if the child has any diseases or any disabilities before he/she is born, which could be treated before he/she is born . The rest of the ideas that are in the middle of least and most controversial are the ones that I believe could be considered to be for positive reasons, but at the same time could be considered wrong in the eyes of some .

I think that people should stop at Fertility drugs . Even fertility drugs could be controversial, but I think that everything afterwards is a little too much . For example, In vitro fertilization . Fertilization of sperm and egg in a Petri dish. In vitro fertilization is when viable embryos are chosen and inserted into the female reproductive tract via a syringe in the doctor's office . I for one, just don't like the idea of "viable" embryos being picked and chosen . Even though it could be to remove any risk of disease or disability, I just don't like the idea of picking out someone's traits . Even though this idea isn't necessarily changing traits, it's still choosing and picking out the "best" embryos . This is also why I'm pretty against Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Diseases . Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis for Diseases is when Fertilization of sperm and egg in a Petri dish. Embryos are screened for a certain genetic disorder. Those without the defective gene are inserted into the female reproductive tract via a syringe in the doctors office . So pretty much, it's when they pick out the traits that they want for their child, and that they would like . I believe that people shouldn't have to go as far as picking out their child's traits . Everyone is born with there own special traits which is what makes them special and unique . If everyone were to get their traits chosen and picked out, then how would anyone really be unique ? There would be so many people with the same traits . So even though some people may believe for this to be "right" I believe that it isn't necessary and it shouldn't be a method that people should have to turn to .