Differences between sperm sharing and egg sharing are morally relevant

Sperm sharing arrangements involve a man (‘the sharer’) allowing his sperm to be used by people seeking donor sperm (‘the recipients’) in exchange for reduced price in vitro fertilisation. Clinics in the UK have offered egg sharing since the 1990s and the arrangement has been subjected to regulatory oversight and significant ethical analysis. By contrast, until now no published ethical or empirical research has analysed sperm sharing. Moreover the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) does not record the number of sperm sharing arrangements taking place.This paper describes the sperm sharing process providing an analysis of all the UK clinics advertising sperm sharing services. The ethical rationale for egg sharing is described: reducing the number of women exposed to the risks of stimulation and retrieval. This advantage is absent in sperm sharing where donation has no physical drawbacks. The key adverse social and emotional outcome of gamete sharing arises when the sharer’s own treatment is unsuccessful and the recipient’s is successful. This outcome is more likely in sperm sharing than in egg sharing given sperm from sharers can be used by up to 10 families whereas shared eggs only go to one other family.Given its morally relevant differences from egg sharing, sperm sharing requires its own ethical analysis. The HFEA should begin recording sperm sharing arrangements in order to enable meaningful ethical and policy scrutiny.

Faith, Medicine, and Healing

This chapter develops from the revealed realities and moral culture formed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a theological and ethical rationale for the healing professions as callings within which the moral reality of healing is conceptualized and enacted. Healing, which is characterized by restoring wholeness, relationships, witnessing the patient’s narrative, the potency of touch, and empathetic solidarity, provides moral convergence and continuity between communal rituals and practices oriented by faith convictions and communal reliance on medical interventions. An evolving moral reality of healing is represented through a typology of three broad patterns of relationship between faith convictions and medical practice that emerged historically in LDS culture: faith against medicine, faith and medicine, and faith in medicine.

Developing an ethical rationale for collaborative approaches to evaluation

As a deeply relational, dialogic, engaged and political approach, the collaborative research context is fairly unique in the world of research, and as such opens up an entirely new set of ethical considerations that serve to differentiate it from other approaches, repositioning ethics as a fundamental rationale for collaborative inquiry. In this paper, we revisit the justifications for collaborative approaches to evaluation—the three Ps—which have become integral to our discourse about the genre. We then elaborate on our rationale for exploring ethics as a legitimate interest in collaborative approaches to evaluation, with special consideration given to why ethics should become an essential consideration moving forward, specifically in terms of the moral obligations of collaborative approaches to evaluation practitioners. We then re-envision the inclusion of an “ethic of engagement” along seven interconnected dimensions, what we refer to as the Seven Rs of collaborative practice: reflexivity, relationality, responsibility, recognition, representation, reciprocity, and rights.

No Place Called Home. The Banishment of ‘Foreign Criminals’ in the Public Interest: A Wrong without Redress

This article examines the legal and ethical rationale for the deportation of ‘foreign criminals’ who have established their homes in the United Kingdom. It argues that provisions relating to automatic deportation constitute a second punishment that can be more accurately described as banishment. The human rights of those defined as ‘foreign criminals’ have been reduced to privileges that are easily withdrawn with reference to the ill-defined public interest. The ability to challenge deportation is then compromised by a non-suspensive appeal process that deliberately undermines the right to an effective remedy whilst further damaging private and family life. With reference to social membership and domicile theories of belonging, it is suggested that those who have made their lives in the UK and established their place and domicile here should be regarded as unconditional members of civil society. As such, they are entitled to equality of treatment in the criminal justice system and should be immune from punitive ‘crimmigration’ measures.

Fair allocation of scarce medical resources in the time of COVID-19: what do people think?

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an enormous burden on health systems, and guidelines have been developed to help healthcare practitioners when resource shortage imposes the choice on who to treat. However, little is known on the public perception of these guidelines and the underlying moral principles. Here, we assess on a sample of 1033 American citizens’ moral views and agreement with proposed guidelines. We find substantial heterogeneity in citizens’ moral principles, often not in line with the guidelines recommendations. As the guidelines are likely to directly affect a considerable number of citizens, our results call for policy interventions to inform people on the ethical rationale behind physicians or triage committees decisions to avoid resentment and feelings of unfairness.

Strategies and core motivations for implementing sustainable development goals

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper analyzes the SDG implementation strategies of five large companies in Portugal. A strategic and operational focus was favored by the respondents for SDG implementation over a normative focus. Three companies had an ethical rationale as their foremost motivation, while the other two cited a predominant contextual motivation. All five companies disclosed some ethical motivations for integrating SDGs. The main SDG strategy motivations did impact the management level at which SDG integration is driven, but these motivations didn't impact the type of integration. SDGs act as a compass for value-adding action, and are a source of trust-building relationships with the public. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Ethical rationale for better coordination of clinical research on COVID-19

Hundreds of clinical trials of potential treatments and vaccines for the “coronavirus 19 disease” (COVID-19) have been set up in record time. This is a remarkable reaction to the global pandemic, but the absence of a global coordination of clinical research efforts raises serious ethical concerns. Some COVID-19 patients might carry the burden of clinical trial involvement even though their trial cannot be completed as researchers are competing for patients. A shortage of medicines can occur when existing drugs are diverted for clinical trials. Research ethics committees are overburdened with multiple applications. A multitude of trials can also overstretch medical staff and risk neglecting non-COVID-19 patients. And finally, conflicting conclusions from a multitude of heterogeneous trials might lead to delays in public health decisions about life-saving issues. These challenges are made worse by the unpredictable evolution of epidemics, the active involvement of political decision-makers in scientific issues and the pressure of social media globally. While freedom to conduct research must be safeguarded, global health emergency situations would greatly benefit from effective international coordination mechanisms for clinical research.

Autonomous decisions by couples in reproductive care

Background Preconception Expanded Carrier Screening (ECS) is a genetic test offered to a general population or to couples who have no known risk of recessive and X-linked genetic diseases and are interested in becoming parents. A test may screen for carrier status of several autosomal recessive diseases at one go. Such a program has been piloted in the Netherlands and may become a reality in more European countries in the future. The ethical rationale for such tests is that they enhance reproductive autonomy. The dominant conception of autonomy is individual-based. However, at the clinic, people deciding on preconception ECS will be counselled together and are expected to make a joint decision, as a couple. The aim of the present study was to develop an understanding of autonomous decisions made by couples in the context of reproductive technologies in general and of preconception ECS in particular. Further, to shed light on what occurs in reproductive clinics and suggest concrete implications for healthcare professionals. Main text Based on the shift in emphasis from individual autonomy to relational autonomy, a notion of couple autonomy was suggested and some features of this concept were outlined. First, that both partners are individually autonomous and that the decision is reached through a communicative process. In this process each partner should feel free to express his or her concerns and preferences, so no one partner dominates the discussion. Further, there should be adequate time for the couple to negotiate possible differences and conclude that the decision is right for them. The final decision should be reached through consensus of both partners without coercion, manipulation or miscommunication. Through concrete examples, the suggested notion of couple autonomy was applied to diverse clinical situations. Conclusions A notion of couple autonomy can be fruitful for healthcare professionals by structuring their attention to and support of a couple who is required to make an autonomous joint decision concerning preconception ECS. A normative implication for healthcare staff is to allow the necessary time for decision-making and to promote a dialogue that can increase the power of the weaker part in a relationship.

Re-Enchanting the Human in an Era of Naturalism

Christians today are encountering new technologies such as gene editing via CRISPR-Cas9, designer babies, and anti-aging medical technology. These technical efforts are designed to enhance the physical properties of humans. Should we be vigilant about any aspects of these new technologies? Are we happy with these technologies? No, we are not happy about all of these developments. We need to critically examine some of the philosophical ideas embedded in the development and application of these technologies. This article aims to rebut the mechanical understanding of the human being that is implicitly embedded in the discourse on the technology. The author proposes naturalism as the cause of the emergence of the mechanical understanding of the human being, which has led to the reduction and negation of the nonphysical aspects of human existence. Due to the elimination of the universal and nonphysical reality of the meaning, value, and telos of human existence and the reduction of such realities to physical reality, what is valuable, meaningful, and good has become limited to that which is involved with something physical. In this way, technology has come to be very important, and the act of thinking has been reduced to the act of technical reasoning. Thus, the human being is construed as a purely physical, mathematical, and geometrical being—as a machine. In order to retrieve a holistic understanding of the human, therefore, it is necessary to reject the reduction of the nonphysical to the physical and thereby retrieve the inherent nonphysical aspects of the human being. This effort will help to re-enchant human beings and to provide theological and ethical rationale for preventing imprudent technological development and its application to humans.