Anencephalic Babies

A condition that effects 1,000 babies in the US each year is anencephaly.  Anencephalic babies are born with no cerebrum or cerebellum; they possess only a brain stem.  These babies can breathe on their own and their hearts beat normally, but the children will never be able to think or become aware.  The babies are not technically brain dead, but the longest a child has ever lived is two and a half years. 

The child to live that long was Baby K, her mother continued to keep her alive despite how futile it was.  Baby K's medical bills got up to $500,000 she died of a heart attack; $500,000 dollars for 2 1/2 year is $16,666 a month.  Most people wouldn't be able to afford that kind of care and Baby K's mother was no exception.  Baby K was kept alive using insurance money.  Is this fair?  Other people's money is going to keep this "born-dead" child alive.  Probably making insurance more expensive for others. 

Another famous anencephalic baby was Theresa, whose parents wished to donate the child's organs to extremely young recipients.  Around 2,000 newborns need organs that can only come from other newborns.  Theresa's parents were denied a choice in the matter because she was still "alive".  When Theresa died ten days later it was to late to harvest and donate her organs.  This makes it seem as though Theresa's short life was for nothing, ten days is not long enough to create a large impact on the world.  But Baby Theresa's story has helped to try to change the law, so the parents of these babies can donate the child's organs.  Should this law be changed?

 What constitutes a living person?  Are we living because we can breath and our hearts beat, or are we living because we know we are alive?  A statement parallel to Descartes' "I think, therefore I am",  I am alive, therefore I live.  Do we become alive when we start to understand our existence?  If you argue this side we aren't technically alive until age one.  Are we alive before the age where we reach self awareness? Do we count as living if there is no possibility of ever reaching this age?  Is that where the line is drawn, the possibility of knowing of our existence?  These questions are often brought up in the issue of abortion, when are we alive? 

I think an anencephalic baby's parents should be allowed to make the decision to donate their child's organs if they wish to do so.  I also think that Baby K shouldn't have been kept alive using insurance money, if her mother had the money and was able to afford the child's care on her own, she can spend her money on whatever she chooses to.  This condition is one of very few that all doctors agree are futile to try to treat.  Anencephaly is always fatal before the third year of a child's existence.  If the organs or tissues can help another child have a life that this child has no possibility of having then that should be done.  It should not be manditory of anencephalic babies' parents to donate organs, but the parents should have the option to.

Oscar Pistorius - The fastest man with no legs

Oscar Pistorius was born with no fibulae, and his legs had to be amputated just below the knees, lest he be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  Oscar is now an award winning paralympic athlete, should he be allowed to compete in the Olympics with his artificial limbs?

Some questions to consider are:

1. Should limits be placed on athletes born with defects who have artificial limbs? (Ethical)

 

2. Do artificial limbs make a person better at sports? (Scientific)

 

3. Should limits be placed on artificial limb technology to make it fair for other athletes? (Legal, Ethical)

 

4. Do the difficulties with the cheetahs (his artificial limbs) outweigh the benefits of them? (Ethical, Scientific)

5. Should Oscar Pistorius be labeled as "disabled" or is he "too- abled" for the Olympics?  (Legal)

Bioethics

Dolly the Sheep

Dolly was the first sheep cloned from an adult cell. This was previously though to be impossible because the cells were already differentiated.  The process is reversed by depriving the cell of nutrients.  The egg, and DNA were from different sheep, and they were planted in a third sheep who was a surrogate mother.  The egg cell was had its nucleus removed and the DNA from the original "Dolly" implanted in it.  The egg is then given a small shock to stimulate growth.  The cell divides until it is decided if it is viable, at which point it is implanted in a mother.  Dolly was a breakthrough in the field of science, exact copies of animals could easily be created.  Some people were worried though, if we can clone animals whats stopping us from cloning humans?  Cloning makes an exact copy of another creature, is this ethical?  Many people don't think cloning is right, because cloned animals face difficulties, as their DNA is older than their chronological age.  This contributes to diseases and other complications early in the clones life.  Dolly died of a lung disease that only affects older sheep.