Physicians should provide women considering abortion after Down syndrome screening with unbiased information and not attempt to influence their decision.
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(4):359-364. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.4.ecas1-1604.
Connections between racism and dehumanization have immediate, lethal, deleterious, longer-term consequences. Lessons from Nazi eugenics and human experimentation still apply.
AMA J Ethics. 2021;23(1):E64-69. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2021.64.
This comic invites readers to consider aesthetic and ethical intersections of how odds might be presented—even exaggerated—to cultivate fear in public health messaging.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(8):E643-645. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.643.
This multipaneled comic follows a woman robot preparing for a breast examination. Oil “leakage” recurs in the comic, suggesting its ethical importance in metaphorically representing a patient’s stress responses.
AMA J Ethics. 2023;25(8):E646-650. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2023.646.
Support for the argument that preimplantation genetic diagnosis followed by selection and implantation of an embryo with a trait that many consider a disability, e.g., deafness, achondroplasia, does not harm the child that develops from the implanted embryo.
Two bioethicists argue that prenatal disability screening promotes negativity toward the disabled and gives parents the ability to selectively form families.
A philosophy professor argues that prenatal genetic testing allows potentially painful afflictions to be discovered prior to birth and does not unjustly discriminate against disabled people.
Industrialized nations could benefit from strategies emerging in developing nations such as respectful collaboration between traditional out-of-hospital birthing practices and maternity units in partnering hospitals.