Published in Bioethics
This account of the moral status of the human fetus makes four interlocking claims, which together comprise the Fetal Life Moral Status Thesis: (1) life as a human organism begins at the fetal stage of development; (2) the non-organismal life of the human embryo begins at fertilization; (3) the human fetus has intrinsic moral status as a human bein...
Published in Bioethics
In this paper, we investigate how data about public preferences may be used to inform policy around the use of controversial novel technologies, using public preferences about autonomous vehicles (AVs) as a case study. We first summarize the recent 'Moral Machine' study, which generated preference data from millions of people regarding how they thi...
Published in Bioethics
In order to avoid the implication that 'mitochondrial replacement techniques' (MRT) would produce 'three parent babies', discourses around these techniques typically dismiss the contribution of the mitochondria to genetic parenthood and personal identity. According to many participants in debates about MRT, 'real parenthood' is a matter of contribu...
Published in Bioethics
This article investigates the role of historical references and arguments in the current policy debate on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in Germany. It analyses major documents and opinion statements, including the recent parliamentary debate (2019). The implementation of NIPT is accompanied by concerns and strong criticism, particularly in G...
Published in Bioethics
During the Third Reich, state-sponsored violence was linked to scientific research on many levels. Prisoners were used as involuntary subjects for medical experiments, and body parts from victims were used in anatomy and neuropathology on a massive scale. In many cases, such specimens remained in scientific collections and were used until long afte...
Published in Bioethics
Published in Bioethics
Eric C. Ip has recently argued that seriously anorexic service users ought to be assumed to be legally incapacitous to refuse life-saving artificial nutrition unless they can demonstrate otherwise, reversing the ordinary legal presumption in place to protect patients' liberty and values. In this response, I argue against this proposal on two ground...
Published in Bioethics
In this paper I argue that some human reproductive genome editing interventions can be therapeutic in nature, and thus that it is false that all such interventions just create healthy individuals. I do this by showing that the conditions established by a therapy definition are met by certain reproductive genome editing interventions. I then defend ...
Published in Bioethics
The emergence of the genetic counseling profession has allowed laypeople to understand and benefit from biological advances, and to make critical decisions about their application. The discipline of genetic counseling has been criticized from its very beginning, in particular because of its early association with the eugenics movement. This paper p...
Published in Bioethics
Mainstream academic debate on the ethics of human gene editing is currently not as inclusive as it should be. For example, it currently does not give due consideration to Indigenous groups and cultures, such as those living in rural and remote areas of Canada. Once such people are given due consideration, then several important points emerge, which...
