Andi Reynolds

Professor Zealley

HS-2050

30 July 2017

This I Believe (end of the semester)

1. Patient autonomy should stop when . . .

I still believe that patient autonomy should always be upheld. It should always be the

patients decision on what medical care they choose to receive. And in cases where the patient

refuses treatment that could possibly save their life, it is still their body and their life. Everyone

deserves the right to make informed decisions about their own medical care.

2. Medical research should . . .

Medical research should only be conducted on a person with their consent. After reading

about the Tuskegee Study I found that a lot of medical research has been without the patient's

knowledge. I understand that medical research studies made it possible for us to proceed to find

cures to harmful diseases and illnesses. Along with, they made us more educated on our bodies

in order to prevent diseases and illnesses. Although, I do not think people should be unaware of

what they are subjecting their health to . With that said, without medical research, we would

know nothing about medicine.

3. Genetic testing for the future should . . .

I think genetic testing for the future should be left up to the patient, if they want to know

what is in their genes or not. Genetic testing is a great idea for those with concerns about their
future and their children's future. It gives individuals the opportunity of preventing diseases or

the knowledge of what signs to look out for in the future.

4. Egg and sperm donation should be . . .

Egg and sperm donation should not be used for designer babies, but for couples in

desperation to make a family. These donations can mean the world to a family and help with

future research. Many are not able to have a child on their own and are desperate for a family,

while the rest of us have hundreds of eggs or sperm that could be used to make a child. Also,

donating eggs and sperm for research helps scientists discover more about human life and issues

with fertility. Although, I do not think people should use these donations to make an aesthetically

pleasing child.

5. Abortion should/should not be . . .

I still believe that abortion should be up to the individual whose body the embryo is in. It

is the individuals body that will go through extensive change and will be responsible for the care

of the child. If the child was going to be born with a severe disease and was going to die young,

the mother should be able to make the decision of if she thinks the quality of her child life is

worth the pain and suffering.

6. Treating or terminating impaired infants should be decided by . . .

Treating or terminating impaired infants should be up to the parents of the infant. They

would be the ones who would watch their child suffer and have to care for them. The parents

ultimately should make the decision on if the infants impairment will ruin the quality of life to

the extent of termination or not.

7. Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should be . . .

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide should be allowed to those that are terminally

ill. I dont think that just anyone should be allowed to go through with this, but in some cases, it

does seem more peaceful than the alternative. For example, a person with stage 4 cancer who is

in severe pain should be allowed to be euthanized if they want. Their quality of life at that point

is very low and they are just avoiding the pain and doing what is inevitable at that time. Along

with, they would be saving their families from having to take care of them as their body fails,

instead they can remember them as them.

8. Payment to organ donors or their families should be . . .

I do not think people should pay for organs. The donors incentive is then changed to a

financial motivation rather than a helping one when payment is involved. I think selling organs

allows the rich to take advantage of the poor because only the financially desperate would donate

an organ to a stranger.

9. Allocation of health care should/should not be considered based on a person's age/quality of

life/ability to pay.

I think the allocation of health care should not be based on a persons age/ quality of life.

I still think it's wrong that health care insurance gets more expensive the older you get because

that is when you need it most. It also should not become more costly because of the quality of the

patient's life because this too is when you need it most.

10. Medical research for women should . . .

Medical research for women should be done as frequently as medical research on men.
For example, heart failure or any other disease should not be only tested on males. Genetically

we are different and will handle symptoms differently. There should be no gender bias in

medical research otherwise we wont be able to discover gender specific diseases.

11. Health care for minorities should be . . .

Health care should be available to all ethnicities and should not be limited by health

insurance. Health insurance companies give minorities limited care plans and this makes it hard

for them to get their needed treatment. Access to health care is a human right and everyone is

included. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of

themselves and of their family. Technically speaking this whole country is based on the freedom

of immigrants.

12. Those with AIDS/HIV should . . .

Those with AIDS/HIV should be treated with optimal health care without any bias. I do

not think there should be laws to those that did not have malicious intent. I think applying

criminal law to HIV to those that did not intend any exposure would do more harm than good. I

do not think HIV laws can be justifiably applied to HIV exposure when a person did not know

that he or she was HIV-positive, did not understand how HIV is transmitted, or that they

disclosed his or her HIV-positive status to the person at risk.