Ethics Case Analysis Paper Baby K Essays - Medical Ethics, Medicine

Ethics Case Analysis Paper: Baby K Ayana Smith Bethune Cookman University Ethics 6/30/2017 The story of Baby K can be described as miserable and tortuous or earnest and triumphant dependent on the audience's perspective. Baby K was born in Northern Virginia with a condition called anencephaly which means Baby K would not be able to see, hear, or feel anything regardless of how long they lived. They wouldn't even be able to have thoughts and achieve a basic level of "personhood." Baby K's mother was aware of this 16 weeks into her own pregnancy; however, because of her motivation garnered by her strong religious beliefs, she had Baby K presuming that "all life is precious." In short, Baby K lived on for 2.5 years attached to a respirator the entire time and every time she stopped breathing she would be rushed back to the hospital to be resuscitated. The courts sided with the mother, but many of the nurses in the NICU felt that she was objectified and it would have been more humane to allow her to die. The most significant moral/ethical issues with regards to the story of Baby K are the issue of personhood vs livelihood and futile care. In relation, another significant moral/ethical dilemma would be abortion. Reason being, the doctors insinuated that Baby K's condition was/is futile to treat and the consensus among medical, legal, and other experts is that acts of heroism should not be used to keep such babies alive. Ultimately, the following statements establish the facts at hand: Firstly, the baby was born with anencephaly and with this condition you are essentially born brain dead. Secondly, the doctors all agreed that the baby was futile to treat. Lastly, Baby K's medical bills ran up to $500,000. The only conceptual ambiguity would be her religious belief stating that "all life is precious" because the word of "God" him/herself is an inconsistency in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, this is simply a logical interpretation and this case cannot be resolved based on just logic since faith must be considered and has no direct correlation with logic. Plus, the only people who are truly affected by this case is the hospital, the doctors and nurses, and the mother as they were the ones who were in care of Baby K. The person who would be most significantly affected by the decision made would obviously be Baby K's mother because she is the bearer of the child and the one responsible for their l ivelihood. Additionally, the emotional trauma that the mother would suffer is more substantial in comparison to everyone else with regards to the death of Baby K. One of the reasons for this may be related to the mother's natural sense of attachment to her child. According to the theories of John Bowlby (1988), a child is securely-attached if she is confident of her caregiver's support. The attachment figure serves as a "secure base" from which the child can confidently explore the world. With that being said, I believe that the mother's sense of attachment is parallel to the needs of their child and because of that Baby K's mother probably felt a heightened sense of attachment to her child that the average person would not be able to comprehend. On another note, I also feel that technology played a very big role in context with Baby K's case. Reason being, is because the technology available is essentially what kept Baby K alive for so long before they died of a heart attack after 2.5 years. If it wasn't for modern technology then Baby K would have either died immediately or within a short span of weeks. In any case, there are many reasonable options for action that could have properly resolved. These options include (but are not limited to) abortion, pulling the plug, and allowing baby K to live on. In my opinion, the moral standard that goes validates my argument is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism can be appropriately applied to this case because the essential idea of Utilitarianism is that the consequence of an action must be determined based on what promotes happiness for the greatest amount of people. The only person that truly benefits in

female circumsicion essays

female circumsicion essays Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is an ugly monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. It can attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding a knife. Usually, it is performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of pregnancy (Samad, 52). Women that have gone beyond the primary level of education are much less likely to fall victim to the tradition ("Men's...", 34). The average victim is illiterate and living in a poverty-stricken community where people face hunger, bad health, over-working, and unclean water ("Female...", 1714). This, however, is not always the case. As one can see in the following story of Soraya Mire, social classes create no real barriers. Soraya Mire, a 13-year-old from Mogadishu, Somolia, never knew what would happen to her the day her mothe r called her out of her room to go buy her some gifts. When asked why, her mother replied, "I just want to show you how much I love you." As Soraya got into the car, she wondered where the armed guards were. Being the daughter of a Somolian general, she was always escorted by guards. Despite her mother's promise of gifts, they did not stop at a store, but at a doctor's home. "This is your special day," Soraya's mother said. "Now you are to become a woman, an important woman." She was ushered into the house and strapped down to an operating table. A local anesthetic was given but it barely blunted the pain as the doctor performed the circumcision. Soraya was sent home an hour later. Soraya broke from her culture's confining bonds at the age of 18 by running away from an abusive arranged marriage. In Switzerland, she was put in a hospital emergency room with severe menstrual cramps because of the operation. Seven months later, the doctor performed reconstr...

Backpackers in Thailand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Backpackers in Thailand - Essay Example the number of its inbound tourists (16% in the first half of 2009) is now limited to a decline of 5% in August 2009, which then shifted to a dramatic change of 10% increase in September and October 2009. Statistical calculations show that Thai tourism industry is expected to develop more favorable backpacker trends in 2010 by promoting budget youth travel. This further involves a brief observation on the principal and emerging markets in Thai backpacking tourism. For instance, beach tourism is Thailand is getting extremely popular among young backpackers from across the world. Keeping in focus the growing leisure market in Thailand, the government is expected to invest substantially on the beach vacation options while promoting a wide variety of beach activities and events for backpackers. Observing the backpackers arrivals to Thailand by nationalities, it is remarkable that the topmost backpackers are from the Asian countries while beach visitors from the UK, the US and other European countries are also increasing in number in the last 7 years (Berger, 2007). Some of the relevant statistical reports on backpackers to Thailand below will provide a clear picture (source: Tourism Authority of Thailand). In assistance of the beach tourism, new opportunities are evident in the health market emerging in Thailand. There are promotional efforts being carried out to provide improved quality services in the spa tourism of Thailand. The flourishing Thai spa industry plays an important role in the Thai economy. This is further associated closely with the medical tourism in Thailand - a relatively new market in the country. As Cohen (2008) explains the close bonding between the medical and spa industries of Thailand, â€Å"The hospitals seek to increase their share in the phenomenal growth of spa and wellness services, either by linkages to existing spas, or by establishing their own wellness centers.† (p. 254) Another significant market accompanying backpacker tourism is