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Module 8 - THC004 Chapter

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MODULE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND APPLIED: ETHICS

CHAPTER 8

PROBLEMS OF BIOETHICS

What is health? In defining or even describing

health depends on one‟s point of view. An ordinary man
considers himself healthy when he is not ill, when he is
free from an endemic disease, e g., malaria or
tuberculosis or just because he is not seriously sick. The
psychologist would consider health as normal
functioning of the cell, because he takes that as the unit
of his investigation. The sociologist, on the other hand,
looks upon the body from the point of view of action, and he must describe health in terms of the
whole man as he reacts upon the various stimuli which come either from within or from without.
These reactions are, however, ultimately mediated in the brain or in the mind, and they will be
the more perfect and economical, the less friction there is n the physical organism. Hence we
may say that a person is healthy when he is, except incidentally, unconscious of his body. The
definition may seem strange at first sight, but it implies all the elements, which enter inti a dull
description of health. It means the state of body, which enables of it, to accommodate itself to
each ordinary task, and to be equal to some exertion without painful sense of fatigue. This
implies as external signs erectness and firmness; as internal requisites, good construction, ability
to adapt itself to wide divergent conditions of life or of climate without deterioration of energy;
endurance, resistance to morbific influences; and finally, if means self-control-mental,
emotional, and sexual; briefly, a balance between organs and organism, so as to produce a
coordinated whole, well equipped for action.

Health may be identified also with good vitality, or surplus energy. Good vitality simply
means a reserve fund beyond what is immediately needed. The greater this reserve, the better
prepared is the organism to meet all kinds of exigencies with ease, and to withstand shocks
without serious injury.

Personal Health Responsibility

Personal health responsibility or taking charge of one‟s

own health is an essential step in disease prevention as well as
protocols for healing and recovery from disease.

Personal health responsibility involves active participation

in one‟s own health and healing plan through education and
lifestyle changes. And although the concept of personal health
responsibility seems simple, it‟s often overlooked when people
are diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and seeking a quick
fix.

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One needs to be sensitive about the importance of good health. A simple everyday
exercise, avoiding alcohol and tobacco and illegal drugs, proper hygiene, enough rest likev8-
hour sleep, eating in proper time and a balance diet are few things that we can do for our body.

People should think more on prevention not on cure. Diseases maybe avoided if everyone
is conscious about what they do, since most diseases are acquired as a product of unhealthy
lifestyle.

Part of personality responsibility to health knows the

family history this is one way to determine hereditary illness
which can be avoided in the future. Examples are diabetes and
high blood which maybe inherited from parents. Another
responsibility is to conduct research to ensure good vitality, like
using herbal medicines and taking food supplements not always
the prescribed medicine manufactured in the laboratory, which
are made up of chemicals.

In the Philippines, several measure have been enacted to

instil health awareness and impose personal responsibility
towards health like the anti-smoking campaign, discouragement
to take medicines without prescription, encouragement to seek medical assistance and services to
license physician‟s and not to a “quack doctor”, heavier penalty for people caught selling
medicines and herbal medicines for abortion, and many others.

Abusing one‟s body violates God‟s commandment. It is a common belief that our body
comes from God-we are tasked to take care of it and not to destroy it. “Our body has right to
over our caprices” and we do not own it – it is owned by God it is for our love one and
fellowmen.

Crimes Against Human Life

1. Suicide
Suicide literally is derived from Latin word
“suicide”, combining the pronoun for “self” and the verb
for “to kill”. The earliest usage of the word suicide could
be traced in 1651 though people have been committing
this act for centuries. Suicide, in essence, is an act of
human being intentionally causing his or her own death.
Suicide is committed for many reasons like out of
despair, or attributed to some underlying mental disorder,
which includes depression, alcoholism, and schizophrenia
and drug abuse. Financial difficulties, interpersonal
relationships and other undesirable experiences or situations play significant role for its
commission.

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The methods of suicide vary between countries. The leading method in different
regions include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms. Worldwide, 30% of suicides
is from pesticide poisoning.

Other methods of suicide include:

1. Blunt force trauma (jumping from a building or bridge, self-defenestrating, stepping
in front of a train, or car collision, for example).
2. Exsanguinations or bloodletting (slitting one‟s wrist or throat)
3. Intentional drowning
4. Electrocution
5. Immolation
6. Intentional Starvation
Suicide and Morality
People who are immersed in Christian doctrine would always say that suicide, as an act is
never moral. On a closer examination of the premise however, the morality of suicide is relative
to the culture and religion of the individual committing the act.
Japanese people have their concept of “hara-kiri” where ritual suicide is deemed by their
society as an honorable act. To the Japanese, if one fails in a very important undertaking, “hara-
kiri” id a viable alternative so as to save face and to save the family honor (even the honor of the
emperor).

Before the close of the World War II, the Japanese even took the concept of “hara-kiri”
further when they displayed collective ritual suicide. This act is now known as “kamikaze”
literally meaning the wind of gods. This is the act where Japanese warplanes instead of returning
to their battle carrier literally crashed their planes on to the American carriers.

To the outsiders (or gaijin), the act of intentional death is foolish while to the Japanese, the
very act of dying for the glory of Japan and for their emperor is heroic. This nation could be
traced to the tradition of the samurai where that would rather die than surrender.

Japanese are not unique in this perspective; people who subscribe to the teaching of Islam
also have their own concept about self-inflicted death.

In the Middle East, especially in Israel, in Palestine and even in the American held
territory-Iraq, there is suicide bombing happening on a regular basis. The concept here is that if
one dies for the glory of Allah (sabil allah), one would immediately go straight to paradise.

Based on the Christian doctrine however, suicide is deemed as a mortal sin. Meaning, of
one commits suicide- he would spend eternity in hell. There I no forgiveness in suicide. Suicide
is a direct violation of the Ten Commandments, specifically the fourth commandment “Thou
shall not kill”. In fact, it involves the rejection of love of self and the renunciation of the
obligation of justice and charity towards one‟s neighbor, towards the communities to which one
belongs, and towards society as a whole. In its deepest reality, suicide represents rejection of
God‟s absolute sovereignty over life and death.

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In our country, the two major causes of suicide are poverty and family problems. But whatever
reasons maybe, it is condemned by the church and people who are believed to have committed it
were not given a Christian burial. Suicide can never under Catholic teachings.

2. Sterilization

Sterilization refers to the procedure performed to stop fertility permanently, in

either male or female. It is considered as the most reliable and most commonly used type
of contraception.

Fertilization takes place when man‟s sperm reaches and joins the egg
released from the ovary of a woman. The released egg is picked up
by one of the two fallopian tubes, which transport it to the uterus.
Fertilization usually occurs in the fallopian tubes; if fertilized, the
eggs then implants into the wall of the uterus to establish pregnancy.
Sterilization interrupts this process permanently, either by
preventing the release of sperm or by stopping fertilization by
locking the fallopian tubes.

Sterilization is done either to the male or female through operation. Operations on

women are commonly called “tubal ligation”, as the procedures aim to occlude or „ligate‟
(tie) the fallopian tubes. The majority of operations described involved cutting the
fallopian tube and over sewing the cut end so that is hidden.

Male sterilization on the other hand, is achieved by the

operations of vasectomy: cutting or legating, on both sides, the vas
deferens, which transports sperm from the testicles to the penis. The
major advantage to a couple of a vasectomy is that it is a much
simpler operation than female sterilization, due to the easy access to
the vas within the scrotum. Vasectomy can be easily performed as
an outpatient operation under local anesthetic. After the operation
the man must wait for around twelve weeks before the sperm count falls to sterile levels.
Normally, doctors ask for two sperm sample s to check the operation has worked before
alternative contraception can be abandoned.

Sterilization and Morality

Without question, the couple intentionally disregard the Church‟s teaching on

contraception and did so by being surgically sterilized. Under the Christian teachings,
“Fecundity is good, a gift and an end of marriage. By giving life, spouses participate in God‟s
fatherhood”.

Sterilization destroys this goodness of marriage, i.e. having children. While contraception
id in itself contrary to the moral law, another moral issue here is the purposeful act of direct
sterilization, an intrinsically evil act.

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Before addressing the morality of sterilization, the moral foundation upon which the
teaching is built must be remembered first. Each person is made in God‟s image and likeness
with both a body and a soul. Vatican II‟s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World asserted that,

“Man, though made of body and soul is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he
sums up in himself the elements of the material world. For this reason man may not despise his
bodily life. Man is rather obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God
has created if and will raise it up on the last day”, Saint Paul reminds every Christian that our
bodies are temples the Holy Spirit and therefore, we should not degrade our bodily dignity by
allowing the body to participate in the act of sin. Moreover, such sun hurts the body of the
Church.

Therefore, msn is responsible to care for his bodily needs with proper nourishment, rest,
exercise, and hygiene. A person must not do anything purposefully to harm the body or its
function. For example, at times, we take medicine over-the-counter as well as prescribed to
preserve out bodily health. However, we must not bring hark to our body by abusing legitimate
drugs or using drugs known to be harmful.

Circumstances arise when a person nay need surgery. To preserve the well-being of the
whole body and really the whole person, an organ that is diseased or functioning in a way that
harms the body may be removed or altered. For instance, surgery to remove appendix that is
about to rupture is perfectly moral as is surgery to remove a mole, which appears to be “pre-
cancerous.” However, cutting off a perfectly healthy hand, thereby destroying not only that
bodily part but also its function is an act of mutilation and is morally wrong.

Direct sterilization means that the purpose of the procedure is to destroy the normal
functioning of a healthy organ so as prevent the future conception of children. The most effective
and least dangerous method of permanent sterilization is through vasectomy for a man and
ligation of the fallopian tubes for a woman. Such direct sterilization is an act of mutilation and is
therefore considered morally wrong. Regarding unlawful ways of regulating births, Pope Paul VI
is his encyclical Humane Vitae in 1968 asserted that direct sterilization should be condemned,
whether of the man or of the woman, whether permanent or temporary”. The Roman Catechism
also states, “Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reason, directly intended
amputations, mutilation, and sterilization performed on innocent persons are against the moral
law”.

However, indirect sterilization is morally permissible. Surgery or some protocol, e.g. drug
or radiation therapy, is not intended to destroy the functioning of a healthy organ or to prevent
the conception of children; rather, the primary intention is to remove or to repair a diseased
organ. Unfortunately, such a surgery or therapy may “indirectly” result in the person being
sterilized. For instance, if a woman is diagnosed with a cancerous uterus, the performance of a
hysterectomy is perfectly legitimate and moral. The direct effect is to remove diseased organ and
preserve the health of the woman‟s body; the indirect effect is that she will be rendered sterile

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and never able to bear children again. The same would be true if one of a woman‟s ovaries or if
one of man‟s testes are cancerous or functioning in a way which is harmful to overall bodily
well-being. Keep in mind, to be morally right, the operation or protocol must be truly therapeutic
in character and arises from a real pathological need.

Pope John Paul in his encyclical “Gospel of Life” warned on “scientifically and
systematically programmed threats” against life. He continued, “we are in fact faced by an
objective conspiracy against life,‟ involving even international institutions, engaged in
encouraging and carrying out actual campaigns to make contraception, sterilization, and abortion
widely available. Nor can it be denied that the mass media are often implicated in this
conspiracy, by lending credit to that culture which presents recourse to contraception,
sterilization, abortion, and even euthanasia as a mark of progress and a victory of freedom, while
depicting as enemies of freedom and progress those positions which are unreservedly pro-life”.

Catholic Church respects the dignity of the individual in both hid person and action but it
remains firm in its stand against artificial methods of family planning, which it considers
immoral.

3. Euthanasia

Euthanasia usually refers to the act of quickening death for a

merciful motive. Euthanasia, however, is different from
suicide because death is not a certainly (and not the only
option) in suicide: while the opposite is true for euthanasia (i.e.
death is certain).

Essentially, there are two types of euthanasia. One is known,

as “passive euthanasia” while the other one is “active
euthanasia”. Though both euthanasia results in death, passive
euthanasia is more widely accepted. Passive euthanasia simply refer to the right of the
patient to refuse life support (medicines and procedure). It is said that this is more
accepted because there is no local or intentional law that forces an individual to receive
involuntary life support. In fact, the New jersey Supreme Court in 1976 even ruled in
essence that doctors might disconnect a mechanical respirator that is keeping a comatose
patient alive from dying with decency and dignity. In 1990, the UD Supreme Court ruled
that dying patients have the right to discontinue life-sustaining treatment. This ruling
opened that door for family members or court appointed surrogates to make the decision
for dying patients.

This type of euthanasia redefined death because with the present strides of science,
machines can artificially sustain life where clinically dead individuals could still continue
to breathe and have their heart function.

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Active euthanasia, on the other hand, is more controversial and as such remains
illegal worldwide. Active euthanasia simply pertains to the voluntary agreement between
the physician and the dying patient to pursue acts that eventually lead to death.

In this context the temptation grows to have recourse to euthanasia, that is to take
control of death and bring it about before its time, “gently” ending one‟s own life or the
life of others. In reality, what might seem logical and humane, when looked at more
closely id seen to be senseless and inhumane Here mankind faced with one of the more
alarming symptoms of the “culture of death”, which is advancing above all in
industrialized societies, marked by an attitude of excessive preoccupation with efficiency
and which sees the growing number of elderly and disabled people as intolerable and too
burdensome These people are isolated by their families and by society, which are
organized almost exclusively on the basis of criteria of productive efficiency, according
to which a hopelessly impaired life no longer has any value.

Furthermore, when one denies or neglects relationship with God, man thinks he is
his own rule and measure, with the right to demand that society should guarantee him the
ways and means of deciding what to do with his life in full and complete autonomy
People in developed countries act this way: they feel encouraged to do because of
constant progress of medicine. By using highly sophisticated systems and equipment,
science and medical practice today are able not only to attend to cased formerly
considered untreatable and to reduce or eliminate pain, but also to sustain and prolong
life even in situations of extreme failure, to restore patients whose basic biological
functions have undergone sudden collapse, and to use special procedure to make organs
available for transplanting.

Euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and
morally unacceptable to kill. This doctrine is based upon the natural law and upon the
written word of God, transmitted by the church‟s tradition.

4. Drug Addiction

World Health Organization defines drug addiction as a state of periodic and

chronic intoxication detrimental to the individual and to
society, produced by the repeated consumption of a
drug (natural or synthetic). It‟s characteristics include:

1. An overpowering desire or need (compulsion)

to continue taking the drug and to obtain it by
and means.
2. A tendency to increase the dose.
3. A psychic (psychological) and sometimes a
physical dependence on the effects of the drug.
The definition of drug addiction includes many drugs such as hypnotic and
sedative drugs (barbiturates, etc.) alcohol, amphetamine and mescaline.

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The Bible teaches that Christians should care for their bodies and use them to
serve God. It is wrong simply to please self or others and to do things that can
reasonably be expected to harm our health and lived. One‟s body and life belong to
God and are only entrusted to humans to use it to accomplish His will like a
stewardship. Humans are responsible to care of the property that belongs to someone
else but has been entrusted to him for a purpose It must be used based on the purpose
of the owner, not destroy it for selfish purposes. We will give account to the owner
for hoe we used his property.

When simply acting for the sake of pleasing self or his

friends, a Christian participates in activities that are
known to harm his health, that person has abused his
stewardship and misused his God-given health. Yet this
is exactly what happens when people use prohibited
drugs.

Taking prohibited drugs is annihilation one‟s body and

the one using it is committing injustice to God, to himself and to his family. Everyone
is expected to value life and to live a healthy life. If suicide is taking one‟s life
instantly, drug addiction is destroying life slowly. To live life to the fullest and to live
a meaningful life cannot be attained if one id using prohibited drugs, it defeats its
very essence of one‟s existence. Taking prohibited drugs therefore is wasting life.

Drug Addiction and Morality

Drugs without doctor‟s prescription are considered illegal. Using drugs of social purposes,
personal pleasure, to get a high, to escape reality, etc., is illegal. To disobey civil law is to sin
against God. God ordained governing authorities. To resist them is resist God‟s ordinance. The
authorities may punish those who disobey, but they also have harmed their conscience toward
God. This ought to settle the matter for every true believer. Drug abuse, including tobacco use, is
therefore sinful.

Mind-altering drugs weaken the mind‟s ability to think clearly, distinguish right from
wrong, and exercise will power.

Note that this refers to loss of will power, not just when one is “high” or intoxicated. This
effect becomes progressively worse with continued use.

Actions for the sake of personal pleasure, which will hinder moral judgement or weaken
our self-control, must be avoided Being sober is the opposite of being drunk and is associated
with being alert and watchful. Being sober, gird up the loins of your mind so you can avoid lusts
and be obedient and holy. This requires being alert. Being sober we can guard and resist evil.

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Bring our bodies into subjection to our minds, exercising temperance (self-control) like
athletes in training, so our bodies will be properly guided by our minds. Keep our heart (mind)
with all diligence because it must decide the issues of life.

Struggling against evil is difficult and dangerous at best, even with the clearest of
faculties. That is why most religions have forbidden intoxication. There are other ways to violate
those principle, but drug abuse is surely one way.

We aspired and pray for good health. Part of it is protection of our health and cure of
diseases and so we cannot turn around and practice things that will harm our bodies.

Christians should have compassion for the sick and care for them. People who knowingly
harm their health for self-pleasure, are working contrary to Christian goals. Should we
knowingly harm our health and then expect other Christians to have compassion on us when our
habits destroy our health.

5. Alcoholism

The Greek word for “drunk” refers to “intoxication, drunkenness is to

get drunk, to become intoxicated.

Alcoholism is drinking alcoholic beverages at a level that interferes

with physical health, mental health, and social, family, or job
responsibilities.

Alcoholism is considered as a type of drug addiction. People who are

dependent on alcohol spend more time drinking alcohol, and getting it.
Dependence on alcohol involves:
 A need for increasing amounts of alcohol to get drunk or achieve the desired effect
(tolerance)
 Alcohol-related illness
 Memory lapses (blackouts)after drinking episodes
 Withdrawal symptoms when alcohol use is stopped.

The most severe drinking behavior includes continuous drinking that leads to
mental or physical problems. Some people are able to gain control over their dependence
in earlier phases before they totally lose control. But no one knows which heavy drinkers
will be able to regain control and which will not.

There is no known common cause of alcoholism. However, several factors may

play role in its development. A person who has an alcoholic parent is more likely to
become an alcoholic than a person without alcoholism in the immediate family.

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World Book Encyclopedia notes that here are disastrous results of overindulgence
in drinking alcohols like ailments such as cirrhosis of the liver, tragic accidents, financial
ruin, family abuse, and harm to the unborn. Probably because of such terrible
consequences, “many religious denominations taught that drinking alcohol is immoral”.

Noteworthy is the fact that the Bible associates drunkenness with gluttony,
directing that both be avoided. If it were intended that we should not drink any alcohol at
all, would that not also indicate that any eating of food is wrong as well? Rather, it is
excess to the point of intoxication and gluttony that the Bible says is wrong – not eating
and drinking in moderation.

Clearly, the Bible does not prohibit the drinking of alcoholic beverages. What it
does condemn, however, is drinking to excess and drunkenness.

In the Biblical verse it states “cast off the works of darkness; walk properly, not in
drunkenness. Make no provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” People, who are guilty of
drunkenness, ill not inherit the kingdom of God. If a church member commits
drunkenness and refuses to repent, he should be disciplined so we don‟t keep company
with him.

There are so many reasons to condemn intoxication as humans face many serious
temptations. In order to distinguish right from wrong and then have the will power to
resist evil, our minds must think clearly and control our bodies; it is called sobriety and
self-control.

Similar to drug addiction, alcoholism destroys human faculties. Although its

immediate effect is personal, it affects the family and the society as a whole. Relatives of
alcoholics are deprived of time, money, care, attention and many other things and to
include also that crimes and accidents are also related to alcoholism. Alcoholism will
always be regarded as immoral if it is a habit.

6. Abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal
or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo resulting in our
caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to
complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans
and other species. Before determining when abortion is
considered moral or immoral, it is imperative to distinguish
abortion first according to its types.

Types of Abortion

There are different types of abortion these are: spontaneous, induced, therapeutic, elective or
voluntary and legal and illegal.

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Spontaneous Abortions. A large percentage of the products of the union of an egg and a
sperm never become infants. If there is something seriously wrong with fetus, the uterus often
expels it. This may occur very early in the pregnancy, with the woman only experiencing a larger
than usual blood flow around the time of her expected menstrual period, or it may occur later in
the pregnancy. This latter event is commonly called a miscarriage, but it is a spontaneous
abortion if it occurs before twenty weeks of pregnancy. Spontaneous abortions are often the
body‟s way of preventing the birth of a defective child, although sometimes they are maternal
health problems.

Induced Abortions. In contrast, induced abortions result from the panned interruption of a
pregnancy. Throughout recorded history, humans have taken a variety of steps to control family
size: before conception by delaying marriage or through abstinence or contraception; or after the
birth by infanticide. Induced abortion falls temporally between these two extremes by preventing
a conception from becoming a live birth.

Therapeutic Abortions. This term refers to abortions though necessary because of fetal
anomalies or to protect the health of the mother when aa birth might be life threatening or
physically damaging.

Elective or Voluntary Abortions. Interruption of a pregnancy before vitality at the woman‟s

request for reasons other than fetal anomalies or maternal risk is often referred to as elective or
voluntary abortion. Such abortions often result from social problems, such as teenage pregnancy
or non-martial births; economic difficulties, such as insufficient income to support a child; or
inappropriate timing.

Legal and Illegal Abortions. Induced abortions may be legal or illegal. A legal abortion is “a
procedure, performed by a licensed physician or someone acting under the supervision of a
licensed physician that was intended to terminate a suspected or known intrauterine pregnancy
and to produce a nonviable fetus at any gestational age.” An illegal abortion may be self-
induced, induced by someone who is not a physician or not acting under her or his supervision,
or induced by a physician under conditions that violate state laws governing abortions.

Abortion and Morality

Human life finds itself most vulnerable when it enters the world and when it leaves the
realm of time to embark upon eternity. The word of God frequently repeats the call to show care
and respect above all where life is undetermined by sickness an old age. Although there are no
direct and explicit calls to protect human life at its very beginning, specifically child not yet
born, and life nearing its and, this can easily be explained by the fact that the mere possibility of
harming, attacking, or actually denying life in these circumstances is completely foreign to the
religious and cultural way of thinking of the people of God.

Human life is sacred and inviolable at every moment of existence including the initial
phase, which precedes birth. All human beings, from their mothers‟ womb, belong to God whose
searches them and knows them, who forms them and knits them together with his own hands,
who looks on them when they are tiny shapeless embryos and already sees in them the adults of

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tomorrow whose days are numbered and whose vocation is even now written in the “book of
life”. There too, when they are still in their mothers‟ womb-as many passages of the Bible bear
witness-they are the personal objects of God‟s loving and fatherly providence.

Among all the crimes, which can be committed against life, procured abortion has
characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable. The Second Vatican Council
defines abortion, together with infanticide, as an “unspeakable crime.”

But Todays, in many people‟s consciences, the perception f its gravity has become
progressively obscured. The acceptance o abortion in the popular mind, in behavior and even in
law itself, is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is
becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the
fundamental right to life is at stake. Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to
have courage to look at the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without
yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard the
reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: “Woe to those who call evil good and good
evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness”. Especially in the case of abortion there is
widespread use of ambiguous terminology, such as “interruption of pregnancy”, which tends to
hide abortion‟s true nature and to lessen its seriousness in public opinion. Perhaps this linguistic
phenomenon is itself a symptom of an uneasiness of conscience. But no word has the power to
change the reality of things.

Procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out,
of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth.

The moral gravity or procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we
are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved. The
one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent
could be imagined. In no way could this human being every be considered an aggressor, much
less an unjust aggressor. He or she is weak, defenseless, even to the point of lacking that minimal
form of defense consisting in the appealing power of a newborn baby‟s cries and tears. The
unborn child is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying him or her in
the womb. And yet sometimes it is precisely the mother herself who makes the decision and asks
for the child to be eliminated, and who then goes about having it done.

It is true that the decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful for the mother,
insofar as the decision to rid herself of the fruit of conception is not made for purely selfish
reasons or our of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her
own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Sometimes it is
feared that the child to be born would live in such conditions that it would be better if the birth
did not take place. Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic,
can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.

In the Philippines to avoid unwanted pregnancies, the practice of abortion is widespread.

Government lacks initiative to prevent it for it is observed that abortive goods are being sold

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even in front of churches of Quiapo and Baclaran – two of the most visited churches in the
country. Abortions take advantage on the persons‟ moral weaknesses especially our youth- for
they are the most vulnerable to this type of the mother but if it done to protect the reputation due
to unwanted pregnancies or for convenience – it is immoral.

7. Selling Organs for Transplants

Should people be allowed to sell their organs?
Currently, exchanging organs for money or other
“valuable considerations” is illegal, but some
members of the medical and business communities
would like to change that. There are two primary
arguments normally offered for this: a person‟ organs
belong to them (so they should be able to do with
them as they wish) and the shortage of a available
organs means we need radical solutions in order to make more organs available and save
more lives.

A number of arguments against selling organs get bandied about, but there are two,
which lie behind most of the others and which address both to the above arguments. The
first concerns how selling organs leads to the commoditization of human bodies and the
second are difficult arguments to explain and are not convincing to everyone, but they cut
to the heart of what we want our society ultimately to be like.
Commoditization and Ownership: It is not clear that just because the only possible
“owner” of an organ is the person in whose body it exists that, therefore, this same person
should also be able to sell it to the highest bidder. You own your body as a whole as well,
but does that mean you can sell yourself into slavery? Human beings cannot be made into
commodities. There are even restriction on how a person can sell their labor, such as laws
concerning minimum wages.

A commodity is something that “can be turned to commercial or other advantage.”

A person certainly uses their body for themselves and their benefit, but they cannot turn
that body over to others for their own permanent use and benefit. Restrictions on the
ability to transfer ownership and control are not only common, but in fact inherent in how
ownership is defined.

In modern society, the “ownership” a person exercises over their body is treated as
unique in that it cannot be legally transferred to any other party. Merely observing that
you “own” something does not also confer the right to transfer ownership and control to
anyone else and in any manner you wish.

An important social reason why the ability to transfer “ownership” of one‟s own
body is so restricted is because it gives opportunity for the rich to exploit the poor. Rich
people have not sold themselves into slavery, the poor have. Rich people are not
protected by minimum wage laws, the poor are. Laws against selling organs do not
protect rich people, the poor are. In each case, it is the rich who would most benefit by

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moving laws into opposite direction, not the poor. If one‟s organs become simply another
commodity that can be bought and sold, like cars or furniture, and are part of an estate,
like houses or stock, doesn‟t that mean they should be consistently treated as such? If a
person goes into bankruptcy, would the value of their organs be considered in the final
value of their organs be considered in the final value of their estate? If a person dies and
property has to be forced into in order to pay off debts, might the person‟s relatives be
forced into selling his organs? Even those who favor some system of selling and buying
organs will normally balk at such things from happening. Once that happened, however,
it is an admission that organs are not “just like any other property” and should not be
treated as such. If such as admission is made, though, the case for allowing the purchase
and sale of organs in the first place is weekend.

In addition to case that the selling of organs would create an inappropriate

commoditization of the human body, there are also very strong arguments for the idea
that buying and selling organs would lead too he exploitation f the poorest segments of
society. Selling an organ is dangerous, so why should people be pressured into doing it?

There are two possible forms which selling organs could take: selling organs of the
living and selling organs of the dead. Having a kidney removed is a difficult, painful, and
dangerous process. It hurts a lot and the pain continues long after the surgery. Like any
surgery, the process itself is dangerous and it is possible that the patient will not wake up.
If they do there remains the problem of post-operative infection, which can kill, and the
muscles of their abdomen may never regain their former strength and elasticity.

Finally, there is now guarantee that the person really will be able to live with just
one kidney, disease or injury later on could be fatal for a kidney donor. This is even more
likely with the poor because of their health, behavior, where they live, etc.

Given the above circumstances, why would anyone sell a kidney? The rich don‟t
do it, and neither do the middle class. Only the poor are likely to do it, and it is without
question an act f desperation. When such desperation is the motive for selling a kidney, to
what degree can we argue that the decision is genuinely voluntary?

In a just society, no person should have to sell off pieces of his or her body in order
to survive. Do we really want to start flying poor people from Africa or Asia to Europe
and North America so that they can sell a kidney to the wealthy? This, then, is why these
issues cut to the heart of what we want our society to be like: will it be just enough that
selling organs is something people can do, but never feel they need, to do?

Paying or Organs Means Increasing Costs: Organ transplant is already an

expensive process – so expensive that many poor people are unable to have it done and
they simply end up dying. Paying people for the organs of deceased relatives may make
more organs available, but it would also increase the cost of the process, shutting out
more poor people and increasing the cost for these who do have enough insurance to pay.

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Neither of those results is desirable and both can occur not simply when paying
living people for organs (like kidneys) but also paying for organs taken from the
deceased. If one of the reasons for allowing the sale of organs is to make more organs
available and save more lives, it can‟t be done in a way that effectively prevents many
people from ever obtaining an organ at all.

Pressuring the Sick: There are already serious ethical concerns when it comes to
doctors recommending that a person on life support be taken off the machined and their
organs donated. These questions will increase if money changes hands. Will families ne
tempted to have their relatives denied medical care in order to sell the organs? Will
hospitals be tempted to withhold treatments for the sake of money?

Compromise: A general policy against selling organs does not necessarily mean
that such sales should not be allowed in a very narrow circumstance or in the context of
special exceptions. For example, it might be legitimate for two families to “trade”,
perhaps a kidney for a bone narrow transplant. This sort of trade is also prohibited as a
type of sale, but it is not an unreasonable exception.

Narrow allowances for selling would have to ensure that the poor have other,
genuine options in order to prevent things like bidding wars and “organ markets” which
would cause problems with the general costs of transplantation. Finally, there would have
to be sound measures to ensure that no one is pressured or tempted to allow others to die
for the sake of money. All of these would be difficult, but without it, the ethical problems
would be unregulated and unmanaged trafficking in human organs would be enormous
and unacceptable.

In the Philippines, donating organs for family members or loved ones without
monetary considerations is both moral and legal. Just like Jesus Christ who sacrificed
HIS life to save mankind and so humans can also do the same. It is not immortal to die
for others by sharing one‟s organ. As long as organs are not sold like commodities. It is
acceptable to the society. Donations of organs at the time of one‟s death to other people
were never challenged morally by the church and legally by the government.

Research: Selling of kidneys is not rare transaction; it is common anywhere. Make a research
of one of this transaction, name the person involved, the results and other details. Use the
space below.
Essay: Explain your stand on the controversial Reproductive health bill. Are you for it or
against it?

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MODULE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND APPLIED: ETHICS

1. Why drug addiction is considered immoral?

2. Does a mere taking of alcohol beverages be regarded as an
immoral act? Explain your answer?
3. What type of abortion is accepted and not considered immoral?
Why?
4. How should you answer this question? “Should not considered
immoral? Why?
5. Does the Bible Forbid organ donation? Explain your answer.

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