Medical Ethics in My Sisters Keeper - Research Paper Example

Outline Introduction - Genetic engineering is unethical Overview and description of medical ethics of two novels Seeking permission - People involved have no voice - It is expected of them to willingly donate Genetically creating children - Wanting a child for something other than wanting a child Going against nature - Genetically perfecting a child, born or unborn - Extremes of saving another child Ethics of killing - There is nothing ethical about it - Willingly endangering a child for someone else - Parents become more concerned for sick child than donor child Designer babies - Creating the perfect child - Abusing science and medicine for perfection Conclusion - Overview of issues presented - Conclusion of My Sister’s Keeper What is Right? Medical Ethics in My Sister’s Keeper Any medical experiment that involves the alteration of a living being, whether they are a fetus or an adult, is unethical, as, in most cases, it goes against the person’s will, there is often very little morality when it comes to creating or altering a person, it goes against nature and what was intended for that person, and, in some cases, it can lead to the death of someone else. Finally, when people see the kind of procedures that can be undertaken through genetic engineering, they could abuse these scientific miracles to make the perfect baby, thus depleting the world of unique people. Medical procedures become unethical when the primary person loses their opportunities to speak out against it, and doctors can no longer see the line between human being and science experiment. Genetic engineering, the act of medically “designing” a specific person to fulfill a specific duty, is a procedure that comes with numerous controversies attached. The ethics of a medical procedure like genetic engineering are often questioned since the person being genetically created is usually the last person to be entitled to their opinion as to whether or not they want to perform the procedure that they were created for. This is the case in the best-selling fiction novel, My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. Anna is a pre-engineered baby that was designed to be a donor for her sister, Kate, who suffers from leukemia; while Anna originally donates just blood and bone marrow, she is faced with the task of having to donate a kidney, which can be harmful to both girls (Picoult, 2004). However, Anna finds herself being expected to donate her kidney, being entitled to no voice of her own. In The Colony, Anne Hatley has a rare gene that affects bone growth, making it so that she only has one leg and has to use a prothesis. Although she is happy with the prothesis, she is pressured into considering doctors genetically engineering a leg for her (Weise, 2004). In regard to medically engineering or pre-engineering a baby to be used as a donor for a sick child, the parents and the doctors usually have it set in their mind what it is that they need from this designer baby; once they get it, there is really no turning back. Once the baby has been engineered to be a perfect donor, such as Anna had been for Kate, that baby can provide the needed medical care that the first child requires to stay above their illness. Usually in situations such as these, the child being designed has no say in the matter; indeed, they are born for a purpose that they knew nothing about until many years later. In My Sister’s Keeper, it quickly becomes apparent that Anna, as a very young child, is none the wiser about her purpose in her family’s life. She simply thinks that she is just a sibling that is capable of providing the blood and bone marrow that her sister needs to stay healthy. She provides her blood and bone marrow without question, and without complaints. However, as Anna becomes older, she begins to understand the concept of engineering or pre-engineering a child for the sake of the health of another child. While Anna still provides the blood and bone marrow for her dying sister, she begins to think about whether or not she had been given the chance to decide on if she wanted to donate or not. The harsh reality of this situation is made known when she is asked to donate a kidney, a potentially dangerous situation for both girls. As was the case with blood and bone marrow, Anna’s parents expect it of her to help out her sister. This is where Anna draws the line. Anna voices her thoughts of having never been asked permission to give up her blood and bone marrow for her sister. She does not regret doing so, but she is against the fact that it had always been assumed that she would be there if her sister ever needed any form of transplant or surgery. When she is expected to give up her kidney, she learns that she can exercise her right to say no, if she wishes to. Her parents tell her, in kinder words than these, that Anna was not fulfilling her purpose of being a successful donor. Again, Anna finds herself in a situation in which her voice is not heard. She did not ask to born to be a donor child, and up until the point in the story when she is asked to donate a kidney, she is not questioned about whether or not she wanted to donate blood and bone marrow all the times that she has. Anna has become less of a daughter, less of a sister, and less of a human being, becoming more like a host body for organs that her sister can make use of. It all comes down to a lack of permission from the person who requires it the most. Especially in regard to something as important and as dangerous as a medical procedure, whether it is giving blood or donating a kidney, the person who is expected to donate these things should be asked. It does not matter how old this person is, what role they play to the person that is sick, or what is expected of them. What matters is solely what the potential donator thinks and if they do want to donate, or if they do not. A medical procedure, such as engineering, becomes unethical not only when a person is not asked permission to become a designer baby, or to donate blood and bone marrow, but when that person does not have a voice to tell others how they feel. If nobody listens, then there is the chance that they will be forced to do something that they are otherwise against. Likewise, in The Colony, doctors and scientists only assume that Anne wants to have two completely functioning legs, even though she has made it quite clear that she is happy in the position that she is in. The procedure of genetically generating a new leg would be just an experiment, and if it were to work, Anne would have the leg she was meant to when she was born. Once again, they are regarding her more as a science experiment, rather than as a living person with her own thoughts and opinions in regard to her situation and procedure. Furthermore, there is something to be said about parents and doctors who want to create a child for a reason other than having a child. Most parents have children for the simply pleasure of having a child and being parents, whether or not the child is their first or their third, they want to be parents. In some cases, children are born without being planned, though more often than not, the parents step up and act like the parents that they are. Unfortunately, there are those, such as Anna’s parents, Brian and Sara, who want another child because they can be of use in a medical situation. Once Brian and Sara were told that Kate had leukemia, and that their eldest child, Jesse, was not a proper donor, they did what they were able to, which was to genetically create a baby that would be a perfect match for Kate. They did not want a baby for the sake of having a baby; they wanted this specific child because it would mean the difference between losing and saving a child of theirs that was already born and is suffering. Using something as precious and as delicate as a child, or even a grown human being, for a science experiment, soon to be medical procedure, is unethical. Humans, regardless of how old they are or if they are a perfect genetic match for a sick relative, are still humans and should not be used as experiments or medical procedures. To create a child based on the fact that they could save the life of someone else, which is questionable within itself, is not only unethical, but it is a heartless and very reckless move. Throughout My Sister’s Keeper, Anna is regarded less as a daughter and more as a mobile donation station; in a similar sense, Anne in The Colony is seen more as a potential experiment than someone who simply has a medical condition. There is no doubt whatsoever that Anna’s parents do love her, but they seem to appreciate her more for the fact that she is able to give Kate the blood and bone marrow that Kate needs to live, rather than loving Anna for simply being Anna, a creation of their own flesh and blood, despite the engineering that took place while she was just an embryo outside of her mother’s womb. While it is almost common that, when a child is sick, especially with a life-threatening illness, the parents become less concerned with their healthy children and focus more on their sick child, Brian and Sara took it too far at time. In many instances throughout the novel, Anna, as well as her older brother, are often shunted aside when Kate would take a turn for the worse; Anna, of course, was always the exception, though she was mainly regarded when Kate would need more blood or bone marrow. During these times, Anna felt as though her only purpose in life was to be a donor, and not a daughter; unfortunately, her parents’ attitudes and their dependency on Anna’s healthy, genetically-perfect genes only proved Anna’s point. She really had been created for the sole purpose of providing fluids and organs for her sister. Her parents had not created her with the intention to have her be just their daughter. Perhaps one of the biggest controversies of genetic engineering is whether or not such a procedure goes against nature. This concept of going against nature includes the engineering of a child, as well as going to such extremes to interfere with a disease in another person. Ever since the concept of genetically creating a child came to light, many people have argued about how creating this perfect child goes against everything that nature stands for. If a child was meant to be born with the proper blood and bone marrow type that would match those of a relative, then it would have been born with such characteristics. By toying with the genes and genetic features of an unborn child, the doctors and scientists are playing with nature, going against what was originally meant to be. Also, as Anna, her lawyer, and the doctor involved in the entire case claimed throughout the entire novel, there was the biggest chance that Anna’s kidney would not save her sister. Thus, Anna could become ill and eventually die because of having only one kidney, and as she put it, who would be able to donate a kidney to her if the need ever arose? Anna was created to provide the blood and organs that her sister would need, but nothing was ever really said about whether or not these donations would help. Therefore, the creation of Anna as a donor, as opposed to simply a daughter, could have been for nothing. Anna, as a young child, was forced to be involved in procedures that might have been for nothing; as a teenager, she realizes the risks to her life when the need arises for Anna to donate a kidney to her sister. Not only does she understand the risks to her life, but she also understands that by donating this kidney, her sister could end up still dying, putting herself at risk for no reason. Furthermore, though harsh it may sound, if Kate were meant to die because of her having leukemia, then that is what is supposed to happen. If they were capable of finding a donor for Kate, one that is already alive and is an exact match for Kate’s needs, then obtaining that kidney from that person would be appropriate. There is then already a kidney there for her if she would need it. Not only would there be a kidney for Kate, but there would be a person that is more than willing to donate that part of their body to help someone who needs it. Creating a child for a medical procedure that may or may not go through is not the solution. It is bad enough that one child is sick and dying, but it is ridiculous and reckless to endanger another child for the sake of the first child. In regard to Anne in The Colony, she is born without a leg. There is no rhyme or reason as to why she would be one of the few people to contract the gene that would make her be born with one less limb; however, that is simply how she is. If she were meant to be born with both legs intact, this would have been the case. By trying to generate a new leg for her, the doctors and scientists are going against what nature has intended for Anne. In addition, in the aforementioned situation involving the book My Sister’s Keeper, a child is recklessly being put into danger for the sake for someone else. There is absolutely nothing ethic that can be found about that situation. Yes, one child is sick and is dying, but that is no reason to put another child at risk in an attempt, one that tends to be rather weak, to save the other child (Perring, 2004). If the designer donor child is at risk for anything, whether it is developing a disease or setting herself up for death, then precautions need to be taken to help the donor child if their health or life is at risk. In essence, by using a donor child, one who was created for the sole purpose of providing blood, bone marrow, and organs, for a potentially life-threatening procedure, everyone involved in the procedure is sentencing the child to death. This child is being killed for the sake of the life for another dying child. Parents, doctors, and scientists are willingly putting another child at risk for someone else. While it may seem ethical to save a dying child, it is not ethical to harm another one in the process. To take this to a further level, Brian and Sara were not so much concerned about Anna’s wellbeing than they were about Kate overcoming her disease. When Anna was informed of the choices she was entitled to in regard to donating her kidney, she took it upon herself to try to get medically emancipated from her parents, as well as from her sister. Therefore, her parents could no longer use Anna as a donor, unless Anna gave her complete consent. It was in this that Anna was able to decide that she did not want to go through the procedure of donating her kidney. While Kate not only respected her sister’s decision, she recommended it, claiming that she was tired of having her disease come between not only her family, but her health; Anna’s parents, however, especially her mother, were distraught by Anna’s decision. Even they though also knew the risk that would befall Anna if she gave up one of her kidneys, they were more concerned about the health of Kate. As previously mentioned, Anna’s parents were more eager to see their oldest daughter live, rather than focusing enough of the harm that could come upon their youngest child. They never seemed to realize that there was the possibility that they could end up losing both of their daughters. Being blinded by the illness of Kate, they were willingly subjecting Anna to a variety of illnesses, if not death. This can be viewed as nothing short of death, as a child is knowingly being put into danger for the sake of someone else. Finally, with the knowledge that it is possible to genetically engineer infants for medical purposes, there is the concern that people may want to take it too far, thus creating the perfect child (Lahl, 2009). If a child can be created with the proper genes, blood and marrow type, and organs to help another relative in danger, then what is to say that they cannot be created with blonde hair or blue eyes, or with red hair and green eyes? Thus, the term “designer baby” is introduced. When a child can be created to either look a certain way or to serve a certain purpose, they are considered to be a designer baby. However, while there is controversy enough by creating a child to help someone else with a life-threatening disease, it is nothing in comparison to the sort of controversy that comes with creating a child based on how it should look. People who have considered this can only argue that since children can be made for medical procedures that they should be allowed to be created for the perfection of their looks. In the case of The Colony, people could have body parts specially made for them as opposed to using prosthetics, or artificial limbs. When it comes to genetic engineering, doctors, scientists, and families lose the sight of right and wrong for the sake of one person, instead of thinking about everyone who could be effected by the procedures. Although there are many reasons as to why genetic engineering is unethical, such as going against nature and harming someone for the sake of someone else, it all comes back to how the primary person feels about being involved in that procedure. For Anna, she was not given the choice of whether or not she wanted to be her sister’s savior; for Anne, she was not given the opportunity to voice her opinions in regard to how she felt about her condition. The second someone’s opinions are overlooked in a medical procedure, the second it becomes unethical and immoral. References Lahl, J. (2009). My sister’s keeper. Retrieved from http://www.tothesource.org/ 7_8_2009/7_8_2009.htm Perring, C. (2004). Review: My sister’s keeper - ethics. Retrieved from http:// metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=2393&cn=135 Picoult, J. (2004). My sister’s keeper. New York: Pocket Books. Weise, J. (2010). The Colony. New York: Soft Skull Press, Incorporated. Read More