Reference no: EM133940168

CASE STUDY: "Baby Theresa"

"Baby Theresa was born in Florida (United States of America) in 1992 with anencephaly, one of the worst genetic disorders. Sometimes referred to as "babies without brains", infants with this disease are born without important parts of the brain and the top of the skull is also missing. Most cases are detected during pregnancy and usually aborted. About half of those not aborted are stillborn. In the United States, about 350 babies are born alive each year and usually die within days. Baby Theresa was born alive. Her parents decided to donate her organs for transplant. Her parents and her physicians agreed that the organs should be removed while she was alive (thus causing her inevitable death to take place sooner), but this was not allowed by Florida law. When she died after nine days the organs had deteriorated too much and could not be used."

[Source: Rachels and Rachels, 2012. The elements of moral philosophy (7th Ed.). New York: MCGraw-Hill Companies.]

Questions:

1. How do we put a value on human life? (you may want to use arguments from the Bible, Church's moral norms, known personalities, etc.)

2. What should one do when there is a conflict between the law and one's own moral position (conscience) about an issue?

3. If you were in a position to make the final decision in this case, what would it be and why?