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Results for “Right to Life Movement”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1985

A consideration of the ethics of brain death--what are the ethical guidelines for physician, family and society in dealing with brain death?

There is at present considerable confusion with respect to ethical guidelines that should govern the behavior of society and the physician confronted by problems resulting from recent attainments of medicine and science. The use of life supporting devices raises the problem of determining when death has occurred and what is proper ethical procedure in dealing with the deficient half life caused by "Brain Death." Some guidance is obtained from a consideration of the nature of life, the nature of death, the nature of man, and the essence lost in death of man. A parallel consideration of the nature of ethics, the bases of ethics and of ethical decision can be helpful. An individual may have ideals which control behavior, even elevate ethical standards; others entertain concepts that destroy social ethics. Ethics control and direct social interactions; ethics determine the quality of social behavior--ethics are established by societies not by individuals. Numerous commissions have endeavored to define the requirements of physicians for diagnosing brain death and for appropriate subsequent actions. The rationales presented, however, are not invariably accepted by lay society. The problem is created by numerous trends. Among them are the "rightest" movement which, though possessing many virtues, has its excesses such as expressed in the "right to life movement." These have not been beneficial and have necessitated "right to death movements." Opposition is also due to the fact that society's concepts of the medical profession have changed. The practice of organ transplantation has created problems. Finally, the concept of death as other than evil is no longer generally accepted. As more biological manipulations are possible ever more difficult ethical problems will arise. It is a certainty, however, that when brain death has occurred life of man and that of the individual has ended. Although others might not agree, our ethic requires us to use life assist techniques to preserve the vegetative man, the individual who can still breathe spontaneously though lacking consciousness and behavioral ability. All the codes of medical ethics state that a physician shall not kill--this does not mean he cannot permit the terminal phases of death when the essence of human life is lost. A major question is the ethical responsibility of one society toward another. Can an affluent society squander its resources in the preservation of ineffectual life in the body after "brain death" when others are without the medical assistance which would permit total living?

Attitude to Death↗
PubMed1987

Variables related to pro-choice attitudes among undergraduates.

Pro-choice attitudes among undergraduates were assessed to determine the extent of anti-abortion sentiments during President Reagan's first term in office, which was marked by his support of the anti-abortion issue as well as by increased media coverage of the right-to-life movement. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 840 participants enrolled in introductory psychology classes at a university in central Texas during the week prior to the presidential election of 1984. Students were asked if they would approve or disapprove of abortion under four different circumstances. Results indicated that the majority of both males and females were in favor of allowing abortion under all four conditions.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1986

The antiabortion movement and Baby Jane Doe.

In the early 1980s, the leadership of the antiabortion movement became involved in a campaign to establish legal rights to extraordinary medical care for seriously handicapped newborns. Armed with political contacts in the Reagan administration and Congress, and allied with advocates for the disabled, the antiabortion movement searched for a test case to guide through the courts. Antiabortion advocate Lawrence Washburn found such a case in Baby Jane Doe, who was being treated at Stony Brook Medical Center. The movement went on to amend the Child Abuse Act to include protections for handicapped newborns. Activists in the movement chose the issue of Baby Jane Doe because they believed it would attract welcome publicity, give them the appearance of supporting civil rights, and enhance their argument as to the legal rights of the fetus and thus strengthen the case against abortion. The movement was partially successful in obtaining its goals.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1990

Abortion policy and women's health in developing countries.

The World Health Organization estimates that almost half a million women in developing countries die in pregnancy and childbirth every year. Unsafe induced abortion is responsible for perhaps one-quarter of these deaths. In this article, the author reviews the legal, medical, and social contexts in which women in developing countries resort to clandestine abortion. Despite intensified international concern with reducing high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, national policy makers and participants at international conferences on maternal health--with a few important exceptions--have not recommended that safe, legal services for terminating unwanted pregnancies be offered as an essential element of basic reproductive health care. United States international policy on funding abortion-related activities in maternal health and family planning programs is especially restrictive. A new policy approach is clearly needed if unacceptably high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in many countries are to be reduced.

Abortion, Illegal↗
PubMed1986

How technology is reframing the abortion debate.

Since the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, medical and scientific developments have focused greater public and professional attention on the status of the fetus. Their cumulative effect may influence legal, social, and moral thought and set the stage for a change in public opinion and a challenge to legalized abortion. There is as yet no inexorable convergence of medical data and legal opinion that would undermine the rational of Roe v. Wade. But the prochoice movement must find room for an open airing of the moral questions if abortion is to remain what it should be--a legally acceptable act.

Aborted Fetus↗