Bioethics
Science asks "Can we?"
Law asks "May we?"
Morality asks "Should we?"
Objectives
Examine in detail a bioethics issue
Explore opinions of those in the community
Lead a class discussion
Phase I: Brainstorm
As a group, brainstorm potential topics to examine. Here is a partial list to give you
an idea, but there are other bioethical issues not listed here. Also, many of the
issues will overlap in some areas.
(A) Research issues: Should scientists be held to some standard of
integrity and honesty? Who should enforce this? Why is peer review so
important? Should scientists be held responsible for creating (or discovering)
technology that can be used to harm others or have unforeseen side effects
(chemical, nuclear warfare)?
(B) Reproductive Technologies: In vitro fertilization, Surrogacy, RU-486,
pre-implantation embryo screening, cloning. Is there a significant difference
between cloning sheep for pharmaceutical production and cloning humans?
(C) Human Genome Project: Should employers be able to screen job
applicants for specific genetic conditions? Who should have access to this
information: family members, lawyers, insurance agencies?
(D) Gene therapy: What are the potential ramifications of somatic and
germ-line gene therapy? Should genes be tinkered with and if so what limits
should be placed on this type of technology.
(E) Fetus Rights: Does a fetus have rights? If so, what are they and who
is responsible for representing the interests of the fetus? Does a fetus have
rights that supersede the mothers? Can government step in to ensure the
health of the fetus if the mother is not? What about embryos?
(F) AIDS: issues involving disclosure, privacy, discrimination, insurance
coverage
(G) Euthanasia: What is the right to die? How does withdrawing or
withholding treatment differ from physician assisted suicide? Who has the
right to decide when and how a person dies? Should doctors be held legally
responsible if they assist a patient's death? What laws should be passed to
protect doctors and patients.
(H) Health Care Allocation: How do we decide who gets access to health
care, particularly expensive equipment and therapies? How do we decide who
gets access to transplanted organs? Should the government pay for health care
when a person cannot afford it?
(I) Environmental Issues: How do we decide between conservation and
economic interests. How much land should be allocated to other species and to
parks? Should industries be responsible for damage done to the environment by
them (pollution)?
(J) Animal rights Issues: Is animal testing acceptable when it benefits
humans? What animals should be tested on and which should not. Does animal
research be justified by its benefits to mankind?
(K) Population control: Who has the right to decide who should have
children (and how many). What measures should be taken to control the
population of the world.
(L) Human Research: Should humans be used for medical and
psychological studies, what guidelines should be instated to protect subjects
(M) Minors and Medicine: What medical procedures should minors have
available to them without parental consent? Do doctors have an obligation to
inform parents of conditions a teen has (pregnancy, AIDS) even if the teen
doesn't wish it?
(N) Genetically Modified Crops: What rights due consumers have? What
rights do farmers have to grow GM crops, who decides whether food is safe?
Phase II: Research
Now that you have your topic, its time to gather information about the issues. Four
positions are listed to help you delegate research responsibilities, if your group is
smaller than four, you'll need to double up some or all of the jobs.
Your job is to explore the issue from a societal perspective.
What do most people feel. What are the different sides of
the issue? Keep in mind, this is not a persuasive topic, your
job is to examine all opinions and attitudes
Sociologist
What are the current laws surrounding the issue? Do
different states have different laws?
Lawyer
Describe and define the topic from a scientific perspective.
This section is to inform others of the scientific processes
and principles. Example, if your group is exploring cloning:
you'll need to explain how cloning works
Scientist
Develop a list of questions to be used for class discussion.
Plan to respond and engage class with controversy and
thought.
Educator
Resources
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Philosophy/Ethics/Applied/Bioethics/
For your
(Google Directory)
topic, you
may want
http://bioethics.gov/ ( Presidents Council on Bioethics )
to use a
http://www.nih.gov/sigs/bioethics/ ( Bioethics Resources on the Web )
search
http://www.med.upenn.edu/bioethic/ ( Center for Bioethics University of Penn )
engine
http://bioethics.net/hsbioethics/ ( High School Bioethics )
and
http://www.cbhd.org/ ( Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity )
http://www.bioethics.net/ ( American Journal of Bioethics )
search
for
specifics
to the
topic.
The links
listed on
the left
are
general
links on
bioethics.
Phase III: Discussion Questions
With your topic in mind, develop a list of questions to be used on a survey. These
questions will not only be used to survey the class but to prompt discussion within
the class.
Example of survey questions:
Do you feel that the government has a right to decide how many children a couple
can have?
Do you think that parents have the right to know of medical procedures being
performed on their minor children (abortion, contraception, treatment for
disease)?
Do patients who are terminally ill have the right to decide how and when they die?
Phase IV: Presentation and Class Discussion
Your presentation to the class should be informative, covering all the information
you gained during the research phase. Use your group roles to help you delegate
duties, with each person doing one section of the presentation. You may use poster
boards or other visual aids.
During this part of the presentation, you will pose questions to the class, ask for
opinions and insights from your classmates. Your presentation and discussion should
be approximately 25 minutes (half the class period)
Assessment
Group Grading
Points Notes
Accurately explores the science issues related to topic. Explains 123
the procedures or capabilities within a scientific context 45
Accurately explores the current legal guidelines regarding the 123
topic, explores possible future laws 45
Examines all sides of the issues and explores the social 123
ramifications 45
Survey examines community thoughts and feelings in a 123
meaningful way 45
Presentation is sequenced and easy to follow, group members 123
seem knowledgeable. 45
Discussion questions meaningful, class is engaged, group
123
encourages class to examine the issue in depth by asking leading
45
questions
Total
Individual Grade
Points Notes
123
Team member shared in responsibilities
45
123
Team member participated in all discussions
45
Total