I have long suspected the bioethics movement wishes to have decisional power over public policy. Now, over at the Hastings Center Website, comes the suggestion that bioethicists should–perhaps (overt advocacy in the field is always couched)–be given more power. From the column by Eric Meslin:
Rather than wringing our hands about whether the next commission should be pragmatic or philosophical, consensus seekers or “deep engagers,” maybe it’s time to ask whether, after three decade of national commissions, the need for bioethics advice has matured to the point where we are prepared to establish standing commissions that span administrations; or to give commissions authority to adjudicate on issues, argue for them, or compel replies to them by affected agencies.
Just as it is foolish to ask whether placebos are ethical – when the proper question is whether a placebo is ethically justified for answering this research question — maybe it is time for our next bioethics commission to be given the flexibility to adapt its methods and approaches to the topics themselves. Might there be consensus on this?
Within the field, no doubt. But I vote absolutely not! Nor do I think the people of this country want philosophers–who generally believe in personhood theory or quality of life medical decision-making–to have any direct or indirect decisional power over their lives.
August 24th, 2009 | 8:36 pm
[...] Secondhand Smoke has the scoop. [...]
August 25th, 2009 | 10:16 am
Hey, don’t dampen their spirits, he is just expressing their desires to become Supreme Court justices. Legislating from the quad instead of the bench!
August 26th, 2009 | 4:45 am
[...] with him. While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet, the odor is detectable and the liberal impulse for controlling the lives of others has been [...]
August 26th, 2009 | 8:22 am
[...] with him. While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet, the odor is detectable and the liberal impulse for controlling the lives of others has been [...]
August 30th, 2009 | 2:34 pm
[...] with him. While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet, the odor is detectable and the liberal impulse for controlling the lives of others has been [...]
August 31st, 2009 | 9:30 pm
[...] that they don’t qualify for treatment. But that is not the President’s fault: This type of thinking has alas been the trend in academic bioethics for thirty years, and despite warnings from Cassandras like John Paul II, Wesley Smith, or Nat [...]
September 8th, 2009 | 11:25 pm
[...] parallel to this trend is a more sinister one: The idea that bioethicists have the right (even the duty) to decide which people are less worthy of care because of their “quality of [...]
September 16th, 2009 | 10:59 pm
[...] Sure the big brained and the bioethics community are hot to trot for this approach, since many–I would say most–accept explicit or implicit utilitarian approaches as best way to provide for the greater good. But I can’t help but think that NICE-type boards, the foundations for which are being laid in Obamacare legislation, would also mean greater power for bioethicists, which, as I reported previously, is already being advocated in high places like the Hastings Center …. [...]
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