Medical Experiments: Ethics of Experimentation with Aborted Foetus

By Gajanan Mamidwar (03) Venkatesh (26)

Fetal Development
When does life begin?
At moment of conception Embryo stage: second to eleventh week Fetus: third month At birth

Embryo at 56 Weeks in Utero (Petit Format/Nestle/Photo Researchers, Inc.)

Case 1: Designer Babies

How this was done :Chromosomes were taken from one zygote the single cell formed when sperm and egg fuse and put into a zygote stripped of its original chromosomes, but left with its original mitochondria, which provide each human cell with energy. Fearful of designer babies and long-term health uncertainties, countries like France and Germany have banned germ line genetic engineering. Is this a assault on reproductive freedom ? Isnt it ridiculous and irresponsible ?

Case 2: Synthetic Blood

Synthetic blood from discarded IVF embryos and aborted foetuses. Could save thousands of lives by revolutionising blood transplant services. Should researchers go ahead ? Is it unethical to use human embryos and terminated foetuses in this way ? Donated blood also carries the risk of infection from HIV, hepatitis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease. Funded by the Wellcome Trust and the NHS(UK)

Case 3: Human Cloning

Mass-producing one's own identical twins in the laboratory so they can be exploited as Your Own Personal Biological Repair Kit" when disease or injury strikes. Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Norway have banned the practice completely For some diseases, genetically matched cells are unnecessary; for others, they are useless, because they only replicate the genetic profile that is part of the problem. Cloning is probably useless for auto-immune diseases like Juvenile Diabetes, where the body mistakenly rejects its own insulin-producing cells as though they were foreign.

Cloning and Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)

legal terms on Abortion .

First trimester: decision to have abortion between woman and her physician Second trimester: state may regulate medical conditions under which an abortion is performed Third trimester: state may prohibit all abortions except to save the life of the mother or protect maternal health

When an Abortion Is ethical

    Rape and incest Severe fetal deformity The health of the mother The life of the mother

Uses of aborted foetuses

        Many viral vaccines (e.g. Polio, Mumps) Bacterial vaccines (e.g. Diphtheria, Tetanus) Rabies Hepatitis A-B Combo Chickenpox , smallpox HIV Parkinson Kidneys and livers failures

Purpose of aborted foetuses

Many opposing viewpoints have been raised on the morality of using vaccines, which are cultivated on aborted fetal cell lines. Kidneys and livers from aborted foetuses could be given to the desperately ill and ease the organ door shortage, a leading scientist has claimed. foetal tissues may offer a more realistic solution to the lack of organs than other technologies being developed.

Purpose of aborted foetuses

Almost 7,000 of the 8,000 Britons waiting for a transplant need a kidney. More than 300 are hoping for a liver, 222 need lungs and almost 100 have requested a heart. Kidney donors have a less than one-in-three chance of receiving an organ in any given year, and hundreds on the transplant list will die before a donor becomes available. Kidneys can be provided by a live donor, but this involves major surgery.

Arguments for foetus organs in transplants

Christian & Muslim religionists , say the transplants would be immoral as every human being, even the unborn, deserved 'protection, respect, wonder and empathy'. But , these fetuses are already dead. They were terminated by elective abortion --. These fetal human beings are now to be used as sources for organs and tissues . Abortion time limit to be lowered, had no ethical objections to the proposal.

Thank You and Good Night