optional enrichment

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Instructions

Do you consider the policy of organ conscription to be morally sound?

Write a 3 page text paper that examines the moral and ethical considerations of organ conscription policies and theories.

Write a paper that answers this question, defending that answer with cogent moral reasoning and supporting your view with ethical theories or moral principles you take to be most relevant to the issue. In addition to reviewing the suggested resources, you are encouraged to locate additional resources in the Capella library, your public library, or authoritative online sites to provide additional support for your viewpoint. Be sure to weave and cite the resources throughout your work.

In your paper, address the following:

  • On what grounds could one argue that consent is not ethically required for conscription of cadaveric organs? And on what grounds could one argue that consent is required?
  • Is the policy truly just and fair, as supporters claim? Explain.
  • Do you consider one of the alternative policies for increasing available donor organs that Munson discusses to be preferable to conscription? Explain why or why not.

RESOURCES:

Is Health Care a Right?

With the Affordable Care Act, there are currently costs and benefits to society of making at least some minimum care available to everyone in the country. However, the law does not say that there is a right to health care. And there is no legal right to health care in the United States. Think about:

  • Is there a moral right to health care, in your view? Is it a basic good, like education, that a just society should provide to all its members? Or is it simply a commodity, like a car or cell phone, that you can have only if you can pay for it?
  • Do you believe that there is a political right to health care, one grounded in the political values of the United States, such as justice and equality?

Scarcity of Medical Resources

  • Munson, R. (2014). Intervention and reflection: Basic issues in bioethics (concise ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Available from the Bookstore.
    • Chapter 8, “Organ Transplants and Scarce Medical Resources,” pages 336–365.
    • Chapter 9, “Distributing Health Care,” pages 366–388.
  • Howard, R. J., & Cornell, D. L. (2016). Ethical issues in organ procurement and transplantation. In Clark, P.A. (eds.) Bioethics: Medical, ethical, and legal perspectives. InTech. Retrieved from https://www.intechopen.com/books/bioethics-medical…
    • This resource examines the ethical issues surrounding organ procurement and transplants, especially from the viewpoint of the scarcity of donated organs compared to the demand.

    Ethical Issues: Women, African-Americans, and Medicine

    If you would like to learn more about ethical issues surrounding the challenges and disparities in health care for these populations you may want to read Optional Enrichment: Women, African Americans, and Medicine [DOC] for an overview of some of the considerations.For further enrichment, you may wish to explore the following resources:

    • Munson, R. (2014). Intervention and reflection: Basic issues in bioethics (concise ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth. Available from the bookstore.
      • Chapter 10, “Women and Medicine,” pages 390–415.
      • Chapter 11, “African Americans and Medicine,” pages 416–437.

    NBC Archives on Demand

    • Click 2014 Study Questions Value of Mammograms to Reduce Breast Cancer Deaths | Transcript to view a video from NBC Learn.
      • This video from NBC Learn outlines the findings of a 2014 study. It concluded that too few early breast cancers were identified to warrant recommending routine mammograms for women beginning at age 40. Investigators recommend that routine screenings be reserved for younger women who have risk factors or significant family histories of the disease.
      • Running time: 03:20.
    • Click 2013 Study: 50 Too Late to Start Breast Cancer Screenings | Transcript to view a video from NBC Learn.
      • This video from NBC Learn describes the findings of an earlier study claiming that age 50 is too late to begin routine breast cancer screenings. What are women to believe?
      • Running time: 01:19.