Termination of pregnancy in lupus nephritis: A bioethical analysis with the integrative method.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Termination of pregnancy in patients with rheumatic diseases is controversial and a bioethical analysis is rarely performed. In this study we analysed the case of a pregnant patient with lupus nephritis unresponsive to treatment, for whom termination of pregnancy is considered. METHODS: The integrative model was applied combining different normative ethical theories. RESULTS: From a utilitarian perspective, termination of pregnancy is justifiable, seeking the greatest benefit for the greatest number of stakeholders. Deontology justifies both terminating and continuing the pregnancy, focusing on the action itself and on autonomy. In virtue ethics the importance of decisions rests with the person who performs the action seeking flourishing; termination of pregnancy would be justifiable. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Interruption of pregnancy is a justifiable solution following the integrative model. Bioethical analysis of paradigmatic cases is essential to ensure the best possible action and as a precedent for future similar situations in rheumatology.

Ethical research when abortion access is legally restricted.

Risks and benefits of some clinical research may be altered.

Legal Risks and Ethical Dilemmas for Clinicians in the Aftermath of Dobbs.

This Viewpoint discusses the ways in which the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization, which triggered abortion bans or restrictions in half of states, presents serious legal risks to clinicians and major ethical dilemmas.

Confronting the Medical Community's Complicity in Marginalizing Abortion Care.

This Viewpoint discusses the exclusion of abortion care from many established medical sources (such as hospitals) and from coverage by many major payers and how the health care system should legitimize and ensure clinician training in safe abortion care.

Abortion Rights after Artificial Wombs: Why Decriminalisation is Needed Ahead of Ectogenesis.

Significant scientific progress has been made toward artificial womb technology, which would allow part of human gestation to occur outside the body. Bioethical and legal scholars have argued that artificial wombs will challenge defences of abortion based in arguments for protecting bodily autonomy, for a pregnant person could have the foetus transferred to an artificial womb instead of being terminated. Drawing on examples from the common law jurisdictions of Canada, the USA, and the UK, I assess three ways scholars have argued abortion might be defended after ectogenesis (through redefining foetal viability, through a property right, and through a right to avoid genetic parenthood). I argue that while each of these proposals has strategic merit, each has significant legal and ethical limitations. Taking the normative position that abortion will remain a vital healthcare resource, I make the case for protecting abortion rights from a challenge posed by ectogenesis by focusing on decriminalisation.

If fetuses are persons, abortion is a public health crisis.

Pro-life advocates commonly argue that fetuses have the moral status of persons, and an accompanying right to life, a view most pro-choice advocates deny. A difficulty for this pro-life position has been Judith Jarvis Thomson's violinist analogy, in which she argues that even if the fetus is a person, abortion is often permissible because a pregnant woman is not obliged to continue to offer her body as life support. Here, we outline the moral theories underlying public health ethics, and examine the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of public health considerations overriding individual rights. We argue that if fetuses are regarded as persons, then abortion is of such prevalence in society that it also constitutes a significant public health crisis. We show that on public health considerations, we are justified in overriding individual rights to bodily autonomy by prohibiting abortion. We conclude that in a society that values public health, abortion can only be tolerated if fetuses are not regarded as persons.

Amnesty International's updated policy on abortion: A resource for medical providers.

Treating abortion as a matter of reproductive autonomy is essential to promoting health, complying with medical ethics, and advancing human rights. When pregnant people can make autonomous decisions about their pregnancies, their health and human rights outcomes improve. Additionally, medical providers that support autonomous sexual and reproductive health decision-making can provide care in line with the highest ethical standards and promote pregnant individuals' human rights. This article highlights Amnesty International's updated institutional abortion policy which uses a reproductive autonomy frame to promote the full realization of human rights for all pregnant people. The policy relies on decades of evidence, the organization's learning from abortion research and advocacy around the world, and evolving human rights law and standards. While not specifically developed for a medical audience, Amnesty International's updated policy can be a useful resource for providers who seek to promote reproductive autonomy and achieve better health outcomes for their patients.

Medical Termination Of Pregnancy For Psychosocial Reasons.

The requesting of medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) for psychosocial reasons invites several questions concerning progress in medicine as well raising necessary and legitimate ethical questions. The law currently permits MTP for maternal reasons at any stage of pregnancy if the woman's health is at a significant risk. However, conceptions of mental health risks remain a grey area and present difficulties in terms of psychiatric assessment. When dealing with a patient suffering from a psychiatric disorder, questions must be asked on the reasons behind the request as well as questions concerning free and clear consent. It must also be taken into account that the progressive nature of pregnancy means patient care must be provided relatively quickly. These cases invite discussion on medical decisions, on both a moral and rational level, and the legitimacy of the basis on which the medical decision is taken in the context of MTP for psychosocial reasons.

Tensions Between Ethics and the Law: Examination of a Legal Case by Two Midwives Invoking a Conscientious Objection to Abortion in Scotland.

This paper examines a legal case arising from a workplace grievance that progressed to being heard at the UK's Supreme Court. The case of Doogan and Wood versus Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board concerned two senior midwives in Scotland, both practicing Roman Catholics, who exercised their perceived rights in accordance with section 4(1) of the Abortion Act not to participate in the treatment of women undergoing abortions. The key question raised by this case was: "Is Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board entitled to require the midwives to delegate, supervise and support staff in the treatment of patients undergoing termination of pregnancy?" The ethical issues concerning conscientious objection to abortion have been much debated although the academic literature is mainly concerned with the position of medical practitioners rather than what the World Health Organization terms "mid-level professionals" such as midwives. This paper examines the arguments put forward by the midwives to justify their refusal to carry out tasks they felt contravened their legal right to make a conscientious objection. We then consider professional codes, UK legislation and church legislation. While the former are given strong weighting the latter was been ignored in this case, although cases in other European countries have been prevented from escalating to such a high level by the intervention of prominent church figures. The paper concludes by stating that the question put to the courts remains as yet unanswered but offers some recommendations for future policy making and research.

Emerging moral status issues.

Many controversies in bioethics turn on questions of moral status. Some moral status issues have received extensive bioethical attention, including those raised by abortion, embryo experimentation, and animal research. Beyond these established debates lie a less familiar set of moral status issues, many of which are tied to recent scientific breakthroughs. This review article surveys some key developments that raise moral status issues, including the development of in vitro brains, part-human animals, "synthetic" embryos, and artificial womb technologies. It introduces the papers in this Special Issue, contextualises their contributions to the moral status literature, and highlights some enduring challenges of determining the moral status of novel types of beings.

Willingness to perform induced abortion and associated factors among graduating midwifery, medical, nursing, and public health officer students of University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia: institution based cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, abortion is often unsafe and a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality accounting for about 8% (4.7-13.2%) of maternal mortality worldwide. Internationally, safe abortion services are recognized as reducing maternal mortality, and liberalized abortion laws are associated with reduced mortality resulting from unsafe abortion procedures. However, health care providers have moral, social and gender-based reservations that affects their willingness towards providing induced abortion services. The purpose of this study was to assess willingness to perform induced abortion and associated factors among graduating Midwifery, Medical, Nursing, and Public health officer students of University of Gondar. METHODS: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted from March 29 to May 30, 2019. All graduating students available during data collection period were considered as study population. Stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select 424 study participants. Pre tested, semi- structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Ethical clearance was obtained from School of midwifery under the delegation of institutional review board of university of Gondar. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety students out of 424 students were willing to perform induced abortion for indications supported by Ethiopian abortion law, making a proportion of 68.4% (95%Cl: 64.2, 72.9). Sex (Being male (AOR = 4.89, 95%CI: 3.02, 7.89)), religion (being orthodox than protestant (AOR = 10.41, 95%CI: 3.02, 21.57)), being Muslim than protestant (AOR = 5.73, 95%CI: 1.37, 15.92)) and having once or less a week religious attendance (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.20, 3.34) were factors associated with willingness towards performing induced abortion. CONCLUSIONS: According to this study willingness of students towards providing induced abortion services was good. However female students, protestant followers and those students with more than once a week religious attendance should be encouraged to support women's access to induced abortion services by referring them to other health care professionals willing to provide induced abortion services.

Pregnant people, inseminators and tissues of human origin: how ectogenesis challenges the concept of abortion.

The potential benefits of an alternative to physical gestation are numerous. These include providing reproductive options for prospective parents who are unable to establish or maintain a physiological pregnancy, and saving the lives of some infants born prematurely. Ectogenesis could also promote sexual equality in reproduction, and represents a necessary option for women experiencing an unwanted pregnancy who are morally opposed to abortion. Despite these broad, and in some cases unique benefits, one major ethical concern is the potential impact of this emerging technology on abortion rights. This article will argue that ectogenesis poses a challenge to many common arguments in favour of a pregnant woman's right to choose, but only insomuch as it highlights that their underlying justifications for abortion are based on flawed conceptions of what the foetus and pregnancy actually are. By interrogating the various interests and relationships involved in a pregnancy, this article will demonstrate that the emergence of artificial gestation need not impact existing abortion rights or legislation, nor definitions of independent viability or moral status.

Objeção de consciência na dinâmica do atendimento ao aborto legal em Minas Gerais / Conscientious objection to legal abortion in Minas Gerais state

Objetivo: O objetivo do estudo foi verificar a existência da objeção de consciência na atenção integral à saúde das vítimas de violência sexual, bem como conhecer a estrutura de atendimento das instituições credenciadas na rede de atenção à vítima de violência sexual no Estado de Minas Gerais. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de campo de caráter quantitativo, transversal, descritivo e analítico, com proposta de coleta de dados das instituições credenciadas ao atendimento às vítimas de violência sexual no estado. O instrumento foi entregue aos(às) coordenadores(a) desses serviços. Resultados: Verificou-se que 11% dos serviços não possuem médicos e 31% não fornecem treinamento para esse tipo de atendimento. Foi revelado que 85% dessas instituições já encontraram pacientes que desejam fazer o aborto legal, mas 83% delas não tiveram seu pedido atendido. Houve 60% da presença de objeção de consciência por parte de toda a equipe médica, sendo o principal motivo religioso (57%). Conclusão: O sistema de assistência no Estado não está preparado para o atendimento integral às vítimas de violência sexual, principalmente no quesito resolução do aborto legal, sendo a objeção de consciência o maior obstáculo. Faz-se necessária uma rede de referência e contrarreferência funcionante para amenizar esse problema tão sério e evidente. Espera-se que o resultado da pesquisa crie espaços de diálogo dentro do Estado que favoreçam ações adequadas sobre o aborto legal e respeitem o profissional médico se houver objeção de consciência.(AU)

Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the existence of conscientious objection to comprehensive health care for the victim of sexual violence, as well as to understand the service structure of institutions authorized in the health care system for victims of sexual violence in the state of Minas Gerais. Methods: This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical field study aiming to collect data from institutions authorized to assist victims of sexual violence in the state. The instrument was handed in to the coordinators of these services. Results: It was found that 11% have no physician in service and that 31% had no training for this type of care. It was revealed that 85% of these institutions have already encountered patients wishing to have a legal abortion, but 83% of them have not had their request granted. There was a 60% presence of conscientious objection by the entire medical team, the main reason being religious (57%). Conclusion: The assistance system is not prepared for comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence, especially in terms of legal abortions, with conscientious objection being the main obstacle. A functional referral and counter-referral system is needed to alleviate such a serious and evident problem. It is hoped that the research results will promote dialogues in the state that favor appropriate actions on legal abortion, and respect the medical professional, in case of conscientious objection.(AU)

[Modelled Development. Practices of Human Embryology at Göttingen University in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century]. / Modellierte Individualentwicklung. Humanembryologische Praktiken an der Universität Göttingen in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts.

The Human Embryology Collection at the Centre of Anatomy Göttingen, created between 1942 and 1970, represents a unique interrelation of histological sectional series of human embryos and large-format physical models open to the public based on them. The collection was established long after the heyday of human embryology. It is also remarkable in another aspect: while usually models within the discipline are considered research objects, Göttingen embryologist Erich Blechschmidt (1904-1992) based his understanding on a pedagogical impetus. The article highlights the distinctive and unconventional features of Blechschmidt's undertaking against its disciplinary background. My focus lies on the two practices that are central to human embryology-collecting and modelling-, as well as the derived collection stocks. The special tension between individuality and universality that already characterized the process of their creation is also reflected in the later use of the collection. This tension allowed Blechschmidt to utilize the models in embryological research and anatomical teaching as well as in the broad social debate on abortion and the ethical status of human embryos.

A research on abortion: ethics, legislation and socio-medical outcomes. Case study: Romania.

This article presents a research study on abortion from a theoretical and empirical point of view. The theoretical part is based on the method of social documents analysis, and presents a complex perspective on abortion, highlighting items of medical, ethical, moral, religious, social, economic and legal elements. The empirical part presents the results of a sociological survey, based on the opinion survey method through the application of the enquiry technique, conducted in Romania, on a sample of 1260 women. The purpose of the survey is to identify Romanians perception on the decision to voluntary interrupt pregnancy, and to determine the core reasons in carrying out an abortion.