Last week in the news I heard this story and it was thought provoking so I thought I would share it and hopefully generate some discussion. I am interested to see what everyone thinks about these ethical dilemmas.
With the health care funds being in such high demand, not enough to go around, is it now time to think about who gets specialised health care? and if so, this then will have greater implications on society.
Posing the question: Should a serial rapist who shows no remorse or signs of rehabilitation and serving time in goal be allowed to have a life saving kidney transplant? The Queensland government has put such a person on a taxpayer funded program for a transplant. As we are aware there are many, many people waiting for a kidney transplant, so should assessments be based on purely medical need or personal character and to what value they have in society?
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/comments/0,23836,23662358-952,00.html
Remembering - The ethical principle of Justice - "fairness and equity to all"
What do you think?
It is an interesting question? will the day come when we make these sorts of decisions? I hope not!
Let me know what you think?
5 comments:
Ummm...interesting question. This is what I would say. If he was showing that he was repentant and making good strides in rehabilitation I would give him the chance. If not, then no.
I just asked a series of work collegues this question and we all had varying answers depending on our personal experiences. Myself - I ask where do we draw the line? If society says no due to his criminal actions does that mean all criminals should not be given the right to be on a transplant list or only those who show no remorse? Is there a timeframe to show remorse? How many criminal actions does it take? What if there's a history of drug abuse? Alcohol abuse? Mental illness? What if someone's just a horrible person?...
thankyou petiepoo for your comments, it is not an easy question to answer however these are very real issues and I think it is not go to be to far in the future where we may have to make these sorts of decisions.
Loving this discussion and I must admit to having a little biase. My husband works as a corrections officer, & he sees all sorts as you can imagine. If I can get hold of him, I'll tell you what he thinks. But I do acknowledge that petiepoo has a point and there are a lot of people in prison who I would say are not 100% competent because of the effects of mental illness etc. I am just glad that I do not have to make the decision - is there really a right or wrong answer?
thanks Sarah for your comment, there is no right or wrong answer. Do you remember the debate about the famous English footballer Georgie Best who was an alcoholic and needed a liver transplant - it was argued if he does not give up alcohol he could not have his transplant - he did give up for awhile and had his transplant and then had a relapse of his alcholism. Georgie finally died of liver failure. Same question applies?
food for thought!
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