Develop a moral argument about the rightness or wrongness of the actions in one of the following cases, through an evaluation of the three aspects (the act itself, the intentions, and the circumstances). Remember: ethics has to do with moral or immoral human action, as well as with our moral responsibilities or obligations to others. Ethics is also dependent upon consideration of perennial philosophical questions: what is human life? What is the moral status of human life and what is it grounded in? What respect do we owe to human life or human persons, and why? As you develop your argument for why you think the actions in the following scenario are or are not ethical, remember to consider as widely as you can the ethical and philosophical implications at stake in the scenario. What are the potential positive and negative consequences of the action or choice being made, for all persons involved?
QUESTION:
The creation of embryonic life outside the womb for the purpose of tissue matching for a bone-marrow transplant for a critically-ill sibling, as in the example of Molly and Adam Nash (Nursing Ethics, p. 115-116). – in your argument, consider: what is the moral status of embryonic life and what does this indicate about our moral obligations (i.e. to prenatal life, to our future children)? What obligations might exist with respect to parenthood and procreation)? Is it moral to create life outside of the womb (why/why not); does it matter under what circumstances that life is brought into being? What are our obligations to embryos that are created and then not used? Is this a moral problem?
