On Hope and Hard Choices

In Handle with Care (2009), novelist Jodi Picoult presents a heartbreaking case involving the question of wrongful birth. This essay examines Ronald M. Green's writings in the field of bioethics to see what wisdom they might bring to this case. I argue that Green's contributions to bioethi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lebacqz, Karen 1945- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2016]
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2016, Volume: 44, Issue: 4, Pages: 722-737
Further subjects:B Justice
B morally relevant differences
B Principles
B wrongful birth
B Bioethics
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:In Handle with Care (2009), novelist Jodi Picoult presents a heartbreaking case involving the question of wrongful birth. This essay examines Ronald M. Green's writings in the field of bioethics to see what wisdom they might bring to this case. I argue that Green's contributions to bioethics exemplify some of the best of ethical argumentation: attention to facts, discernment of morally relevant differences, enunciation and justification of principles, originality, and compassion. I then draw from his work three foci that illuminate aspects of the dilemma presented by Picoult: the importance of parental love, the possibility that the dilemma might be reframed away from wrongful birth, and the need to shift our focus to questions of justice. While appreciating Green's contributions to bioethics, I also indicate several places of nuanced disagreement.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jore.12157