Why do I talk about personhood? Personhood has come to be part of the discussion of organ donation, abortion, and euthanasia. Why?
A basic definition of personhood is the state of being a person. This is important because we place special value, along with moral and legal rights and responsibilities, upon persons. So, when we want to attribute rights and responsibilities to certain people, or we want to take rights and responsibilities away from certain people, we can, in our arguments, attempt to show it is right to do so by attributing, or by not attributing, personhood to them.… Read the rest
Before you read this: I understand, for some, the conclusions drawn in this post may be difficult. It may be helpful to first read the follow blog posting — What IF You Did Not Know?
Organ transplantation has quite an appeal. A child dying from congenital heart disease receives a “new” heart. A mother receives a “new” liver after hers is damaged by a pregnancy related blood clot. Yet, there are concerns about the retrieval of vital organs. Vital organs must be taken from living bodies that, as a result, die. … Read the rest
Canada is rapidly moving toward the assisted killing of people. The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons have already developed policy saying that when a patient requests assistance in dying, if the doctor will not assist then the doctor must make an effective referral. In another setting, if a man requests that someone kill his wife, the man who made the request is guilty of the killing. In the same way, is the doctor making the request not also responsible for the killing? … Read the rest
Recently reviewing an essay on Organ Donation which I wrote in 1998,[1] I came across some thoughts on the definition personhood. How a “person” is defined plays a vital role in how we approach things like vital organ donation and assisted death. Our society is rapidly moving to a definition of personhood that connects a person’s intrinsic value to their ability to think. Those with less ability to think are considered to have less value and are more easily deemed expendable.… Read the rest
Worldview and Ethical Issues from a Biblical Perspective
