Group 4 Death, Abortion, and Animal Welfare

Bioethics - Group 4

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Asadon | Ducusin | Gamad | Lutab

Paulino | Santos | Serios

M E M B E R S

ASADON

DUCUSIN

GAMAD

LUTAB

PAULINO

SANTOS

SERIOS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Persons, Humans, and Individuals: The Language of Moral Standing

The concept of moral standing

Persons defined as "those with full

moral standing"

Moral and Descriptive uses of the term

person

The concept of personhood

Persons defined as "those who possess

certain properties"

Moral and Nonmoral uses of the word

human

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Death

Definition of death

Problems with a Somatic Oriented

Definition of Death

Types of Death

A Whole-Brain-Oriented Definition of

Death

Somatic/ Circulatory Oriented

Definition of Death

The Higher-Brain Definition of Death

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abortion

The Moral Status of Nonhuman Animals

Spontaneous Abortion

Definition of non-human animals

Induced Abortion

Animal cruelty & animal

experimentation

Medically induced abortion

Surgically induced abortion

Views about the moral status of

nonhuman animals

LESSON

O B J E C

T I V

E

S

Distinguish different notions of moral standing,

person and human.

Explain why some beings could have more or less moral

standing than others

Identify the fundamental assumptions about moral

standing that are common in bioethics, such as in

debates about the definition of death, abortion, the

use of stem cells, and the treatment of non human

animals

THE CONCEPT OF MORAL STANDING

What is Moral Standing?

In ethics, Moral Standing is the

status of an entity by virtue of

which it is deserving of

consideration in moral decision

making.


What is Moral Standing?

In ethics, Moral Standing is the

status of an entity by virtue of

which it is deserving of

consideration in moral decision

making.


We need to identify those to whom the moral

norms apply; that is, those who are owed

duties of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and the

other moral obligations. One way of speaking

is to refer to any being to whom we owe some

kind of duty as having moral standing. We

usually believe that humans have moral

standing, but other animals may as well.


Many believe that our character

develops in part based on how we treat

animals and the environment, and care

ethics is not clearly limited to

human-human bonding.


Maybe because we believe that, even if

the genes of the species are not

useful now we may find that genetic

material useful to humans in the

future or it may be because it is

intrinsically valuable and simply

deserves protection.

Player 1

MORAL AND DESCRIPTIVE USES OF THE TERM

PERSON

PERSON

(NON MORAL)

PERSON

(MORAL)

TWO DEFINITIONS OF PERSON

PERSONS DEFINED AS “THOSE

WITH FULL MORAL STANDING”

CONCEPT OF

PERSONHOOD

The problem arises when someone tries to say

something like the following:

Late-term fetuses are not persons because they lack

self-awareness (or selfconsciousness

or ability to reason). But, since

lacking personhood means one lacks full moral

standing, fetuses can be aborted.

Confusion Resulting from Shifting from a

Nonmoral to a Moral

Use of the Term Person

PERSONS DEFINED AS “THOSE WHO

POSSESS CERTAIN PROPERTIES ”

PERSON

This word is used in ways that do not

necessarily convery any moral status. Thus,

person can be defined as any self-aware

being. If person is defined descriptively,

that is by citing one or more crucial

properties such as self awareness; nothing

follows about whether such persons have

moral status

MORAL AND NONMORAL USES OF THE

WORD HUMAN

MORAL AND NONMORAL USES OF

THE WORD HUMAN

To be a human in a nonmoral sense establishes

nothing one way or another about whether that

being also has full moral standing. Doing so

requires a belief that all who are humans in the

nonmoral sense also possess full moral standing.

The issue in this chapter is how people have

attributed moral standing to individuals and,

further, how they have attributed what we call

full moral standing.

PERSONS DEFINED AS “THOSE WHO

POSSESS CERTAIN PROPERTIES ”

D

E F I N I N G

D E A T H

by: Gamad & Santos

DEFINITION OF DEATH

When the individual has died, the certain moral and

legal rights that once applied to this individual no

longer do

At least for humans, the fight over the definition of

death is really a fight over when we should no longer

treat someone the way we normally treat living humans.

But there are things we could do even to a corpse that

would be considered immoral

THREE GENERAL POSITIONS

REGARDING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE

DEAD

Somatic-Oriented

Whole-Brain-Oriented

Higher-Brain-Oriented

A SOMATIC OR CIRCULATORY

DEFINITION OF DEATH

According to this view, an individual dies when there

is irreversible loss of the body’s capacity to carry

on integrated functioning.

Referred to as a circulatory definition, not just to

the functioning of the heart, but also to the

functioning of the circulatory and respiratory systems

and other bodily systems.

A SOMATIC OR CIRCULATORY

DEFINITION OF DEATH

The circulatory view of death can be appealing to

certain believers in the Abrahamic religions, who view

God’s “breath of life” as the critical moment for when

life begins, indicating that life ends when breath, or

cardiopulmonary function, cannot be restored

CASE 3: THE MAN LIVING WITHOUT A

HEART

Some year ago, a dentist named Barney Clarke was a heart patient at

the University of Utah, where clinicians were experimenting with

artificial hearts. Since he was at death’s door and awaiting a heart

transplant, the physiciansremoved his heart and connected his aorta

and veins back up to a Jarvik-7 artificial heart pump. Barney Clarke

lived for four months on that artificial heart. At times he was

doing quite well with this machine running next to him, pumping like

a heart would pump blood. At times he would sit up in bed, even get

out of bed and go for a stroll, pulling this machine along with him

on a cart. If he is carrying on a conversation, smiling, and

discussing things with those at his side, would anyone, even

believers in a definition of death focusing on heart function,

consider him dead?

THE PROBLEM OF

IRREVERSIBILITY

For an individual to be dead

by this definition, the

stoppage of bodily integrative function such as

circulatory and respiratory function must be

irreversible

It is very common but very wrong for clinicians and

others to refer to someone who has suffered a cardiac

arrest and been successfully resuscitated as having

been “clinically dead.” Being dead means irreversible

loss of circulatory function

PROBLEMS WITH A SOMATIC

DEFINITION OF DEATH

For an individual to be dead

by this definition, the

stoppage of bodily integrative function such as

circulatory and respiratory function must be

irreversible

It is very common but very wrong for clinicians and

others to refer to someone who has suffered a cardiac

arrest and been successfully resuscitated as having

been “clinically dead.” Being dead means irreversible

loss of circulatory function

A WHOLE-BRAIN-ORIENTED

DEFINITION OF DEATH

That brings us up to about 1970, when we began talking about

what is today sometimes called the whole-brain-oriented

definition of death based on neurological criteria.

An individual dies, according to this view, when there is

irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain,

including the brain stem (Harvard Medical School, 1968)

The majority of the writers of both the 1981 President’s

Commission and the 2008 report of the President’s Council on

Bioethics held this view.


DEFINITION OF DEATH

Whole-brain death is the current law in most jurisdictions of

the world. The exceptions include some Asian countries.

The very first organs procured for transplant in Japan, back in

the late 1960s


California requires a

“reasonably brief” delay in

pronouncing death in order

for family or next of kin to

gather.

Illinois unclearly mandates

that the patient's religious

beliefs regarding the timing

of their death be taken into

account.

DEFINITION OF DEATH

New York requires that

hospitals make “reasonable

accommodation” to an

individual’s religious or

moral objections to the use

of the brain death standard.

In New Jersey, death is

based on whole-brain criteria

unless the individual had

executed a document

expressing a religious

objection to the use of the

whole-brain death concept.

THE HIGHER-

BRAIN

DEFINITION

OF DEATH

it is sometimes called the higherbrain-

oriented definition

Defining exactly which functions are

critical is controversial. Some have

claimed that the critical function

is the function of the cerebrum, but

it is theoretically possible for

some motor functions to remain in

the cerebrum even though all sensory

function is lost.

THE HIGHER-BRAIN DEFINITION

OF DEATH

The so-called "higher brain death criteria" is based on the

concept as patients who are permanently unconscious have lost

function of the upper brain (the cortex and associated

structures), but not necessarily function of the lower brain

(the brainstem)

The higher-brain definition of death is not yet legal anywhere

in the world. But it is an idea that is debated increasingly.

ABORTION

Abortion is the medical term for any

interruption of a pregnancy before a

fetus is viable (able to survive

outside the uterus if born at that

time). A viable fetus is usually

defined as a fetus of more than 20 to

24 weeks of gestation or one that

weighs at least 500 g. A fetus born

before this point is considered a

miscarriage or premature or immature

birth (Cootauco & Althaus, 2007).

SPONTANEOUS & INDUCED

ABORTION


refers to pregnancy loss at

less than 20 weeks'

gestation in the absence of

elective medical or

surgical measures to

terminate the pregnancy.

The term “miscarriage” is

synonymous and often is

used with patients because

the word “abortion” is

associated with elective

termination.

Induced Abortion

Also known as Elective

Termination of Pregnancy

It is a procedure

performed to end a

pregnancy before fetal

viability.

Such procedures are also

referred to as medical and

surgically induced

abortion

SPONTANEOUS

ABORTION/MISCARRIAGE

Threatened

Imminent (Inevitable)

Incomplete

Complete

Missed

Recurrent

THREATENED ABORTION

A threatened abortion is vaginal bleeding during pregnancy that does not meet

diagnostic criteria for spontaneous abortion. In a threatened abortion, the

cervical is remains closed. A threatened abortion can present during early

pregnancy with lower abdominal pain, and/or vaginal bleeding.

If the spotting with threatened miscarriage is going to stop, it usually does so

within 24 to 48 hours after a woman reduces her activity.

As many as 50% of women with a threatened miscarriage continue the pregnancy; for

the other 50%, unfortunately, the threatened miscarriage changes to imminent or

inevitable miscarriage.

IMMINENT (INEVITABLE)

ABORTION

With cervical dilation, the loss of the products of conception cannot be

halted. If no fetal heart sounds are detected and an ultrasound reveals an

empty uterus or nonviable fetus, a physician may perform a vacuum extraction

(dilation and evacuation [D&E]) to ensure that all the products of conception

are removed.

INCOMPLETE ABORTION

The term “incomplete” can be confusing for women. They may interpret it to mean

that because the miscarriage is incomplete, the pregnancy will continue. Be

careful not to encourage false hopes by also misinterpreting this term.

The physician will usually perform a dilation and curettage (D&C) or suction

curettage to evacuate the remainder of the pregnancy from the uterus.

COMPLETE ABORTION

In a complete miscarriage, the entire products of conception (fetus,

membranes, and placenta) are expelled spontaneously without any assistance.

The bleeding usually slows within 2 hours and then ceases within a few days

after passage of the products of conception.

MISSED ABORTION

A missed abortion gets its name because this type of miscarriage doesn’t cause

symptoms of bleeding and cramps that occur in other types of miscarriages. It’s

common to have no symptoms during a missed abortion. This can make it difficult

for you to know that the loss has occurred.

RECURRENT ABORTION

The women who had three spontaneous miscarriages that occurred at the same

gestational age were called “habitual aborters.”

Today, the term recurrent pregnancy loss is used to describe this miscarriage

pattern, and a thorough investigation is done to discover the cause of the loss

and help ensure the outcome of a future pregnancy.

SPONTANEOUS

ABORTION/MISCARRIAGE

Threatened

Small falls, injuries or

stress during the first

trimester of pregnancy can

cause threatened miscarriage

Imminent (Inevitable)

Symptoms cannot be stopped

and a miscarriage will

happen.

Incomplete

The pregnancy is lost and

the products of conception

do not leave the body.

Complete

All of the products

(tissue) of conception

leave the body.

Missed

The pregnancy is lost and

the products of conception

do not leave the body.

Recurrent

The women who had three

spontaneous miscarriages that

occurred at the same

gestational age were called

“habitual aborters.”

Also known as Elective

Termination of Pregnancy

INDUCED

ABORTION

It is a procedure

performed to end a

pregnancy before fetal

viability.

Such procedures are also

referred to as medically

and surgically induced

abortion.

Abortion

INDUCED ABORTION

Medical Induced Abortion

Surgical Induced Abortion

Certain drugs are taken to

cause termination of

pregnancy such as

Mifepristone (600mg PO) and

Misoprostol (400mcg PO or

800mcg vaginal dose)

The medications are taken

anytime within the 7 weeks

of gestation.

It involves several different

techniques depending on the

gestational age at the time the

termination is performed.

1. Menstrual Extraction

2. Dilatation & Curettage (D&C)

3. Dilatation & Vacuum

Extraction (D&E)

4. Prostaglandin or Saline

Induction

5. Hysterectomy

MENSTRUAL

EXTRACTION

This involves the use of

suction or vacuum

aspiration to terminate

very early pregnancy.

Lining of the uterus that

sheds during menstruation

is suctioned and removed by

means of the vacuum of

syringe.

It is performed within 5 to

7 weeks after LMP.


DILATATION &

CURETTAGE (D&C)

It is a surgical procedure

in which the cervix is

dilated so that the uterine

lining can be scraped using

curette to remove tissues

(zygote and trophoblast

cells).

It is performed in women

with less than 13 weeks of

pregnancy.


DILATATION &

VACUUM EXTRACTION

(D&E)

It is a surgical procedure

in which the cervix is

dilated using traditional

dilators and a narrow

suction tip vacuums the

uterine contents over a 15-

minute period.

It is performed in second

trimester of pregnancy

(between 12 to 16th week)


PROSTAGLANDIN OR

SALINE INDUCTION

A procedure that involves

administering of

Prostaglandin by injection

or suppository. Saline may

also be used and injected

through the abdominal wall,

into the amniotic fluid.

It is performed if a

pregnancy is between 16 and

24 weeks.


HYSTERECTOMY

Hysterectomy is the removal

of fetus by surgical

intervention similar to

cesarean birth.

Performed if the gestational

age for pregnancy is more

than 16 to 18 weeks.


ABORTION


Induced Abortion

Threatened

Imminent

Incomplete

Complete

Missed

Recurrent

Medically Induced Abortion


Procedures:

1. Menstrual Extraction

2. Dilatation & Curettage (D&C)

3. Dilatation & Vacuum

Extraction (D&E)

4. Prostaglandin or Saline

Induction

5. Hysterectomy

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Ashley Paulino

NON-HUMAN

ANIMALS

being other than a human

being

not belonging to, appropriate

to, or produced by human

beings.

The moral status of non-human animals

ANIMAL CRUELTY

animal cruelty is causing harm to an animal whether by

purposeful action or neglect. (Sentinient media, 2021)

The species that are most frequently reported as being the

victims of animal cruelty are dogs, cats, horses, and farm

animals.

"The Link"

In one survey, 71 percent of domestic violence victims reported

that their abuser also targeted pets.



ANIMAL TESTING

The term “animal testing” refers to procedures performed on

living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and

diseases

mice, fish, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals,

birds, cats, dogs, mini-pigs, and non-human primates (monkeys,

and in some countries, chimpanzees)


SAVE RALPH

A 4-minute stop-motion animated short

film by Humane Society International

Directed by Spencer Susser and

animated by Tobias Fouracre

It was awarded awarded the Grand Prix

for Good at the Cannes Lions Festival

NATIONAL INSITUTE OF HEALTH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a government

organization in the United States that promotes and funds

scientific research into the origins, treatment, and prevention

of disease.

It also offers training for health professionals and

disseminates medical information. It is the largest single

funder of biomedical research in the nation.

National Institutes of Health (1985) Guide for the Care and Use

of Laboratory Animals


ANIMAL WELFARE

ACT 1966

It was signed on August 24, 1966

It is the only federal legislation in the US that governs how

animals are handled during research, education, testing,

exhibition, transportation, and by dealers.

The Act is enforced by USDA, APHIS, Animal Care.


VIEWS ABOUT THE


NONHUMAN ANIMALS

Nonhuman animals have traditionally been viewed as subordinate

to humans in Western culture.

They are believed to deserve protection from needless

suffering, but the interests of humans take precedence.

Ahimsa - ethical principle of not causing harm to other living

things.

RIGHTS BASED DEFENSE OF


THE MORAL STATUS OF

ANIMALS

Tom Regan - American Kantian philosopher who is an expert in

the theory of animal rights

Animals have a sacredness or right to life just the way humans

do.

The argument is not driven by concern for consequences. Animals

have rights in virtue of their capacities, including a right to

live.


DEGREES OF PLEASURE AND

PAIN

Rey Frey - was an act utilitarian who argues granting rights to

animals, denies that nonhuman animals have morally compelling

interests

For Frey, two animals of different species that experience the

same kind and quantity of pain have equal moral claim to be

relieved of that pain


PETER SINGER

Born on July 6, 1946 in Melbourne,

Australia

An Australian utilitarian philosopher

Singer's Principle: If we can prevent

something bad from happening without

sacrificing anything of comparable

moral importance, then we ought to do

so.

Popularized the word 'Speciesism'

SPECIESISM

Introduced during the 1970s

by a philosopher named

Richard Ryder

The practice of treating

members of one species as

morally more important than

members of other species


PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL CONSIDERATION

OF INTERESTS (PEC)

Identical interests should be given equal weight,

regardless of what type of being they occur in.

Interest in avoiding pain

According to Jeremy Bentham, "The question is not, 'Can

they reason?' nor 'Can they talk?' but rather, 'Can they

suffer?'


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FOR LISTENING!!

RESOURCE PAGE

Merriam Webster. (Ret. 11 Oct 2022). Nonhuman animals. Merriam Webster. https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/nonhuman

Hussain, G. (20 Aug 2021). Animal Cruelty: What can you do right now to prevent it. Sentient

media. https://sentientmedia.org/animal-cruelty/

Lee, M. (Ret. 11 Oct 2022). Animal Cruelty Facts and Stats. The Humane Society of the United

States. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/animal-cruelty-facts-and-stats

Humane Society International. (Ret. 11 Oct 2022). About Animal Testing. Humane Society

International. https://www.hsi.org/news-media/about/

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (Ret. 13 Oct 2022). National Institutes of Health.

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Institutes-of-Health

USDA. (Ret. 13 Oct 2022). Animal Welfare Act. USDA National Agricultural Library.

https://www.nal.usda.gov/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare-act

Video - Crash course. (17 Jan 2017). Non-Human Animals: Crash Course Philosophy #42.

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-BX-jN_Ac

Duignan, B. (27 Sept 2022). Peter Singer. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Singer

Wise, S.M. (7 Oct 2022). Animal Rights. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/animalrights/The-modern-animal-rights-movement

Nonhuman Animal Ethics. (Ret. 13 Oct 2022). Critics of Animal Ethics.

https://nonhumananimalethics.wordpress.com/critics-of-animal-ethics/

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