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Hastings Bioethics Forum

An online publication of topical bioethics commentary

Hastings Bioethics Forum publishes commentaries on topical issues in bioethics.
Susan Gilbert, Editor. For questions about contributing, contact gilberts@thehastingscenter.org.

Essays are the opinions of the authors, not of The Hastings Center for Bioethics.

Bioethics Forum Essay
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 Flourishing for All

Our forthcoming book, The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability, invites readers to consider the fact that, when provided with adequate social support, people can flourish in all sorts of...
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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A Clinical Ethicist Reflects on the Life and Death of a Beloved Pet

In my role as a clinical ethicist, I regularly explore the risks and benefits of proposed treatments, especially for terminal diseases. But for Sheba this moral question felt unique.
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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Pregnancy, Brain Death, and the Right to Choose: Lessons from the Adriana Smith Case

Brain death during pregnancy presents complex ethical and legal questions regarding whether––and under what circumstances–any fetal interests or rights take precedence over those of a pregnant person. Here, we discuss...
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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Civil Death: Unethical in 1933 and Today

The rhyme of history is disturbing, especially when played out by the professionals whom we rely on for ethical leadership, not for unethical manipulation of the law.
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Bioethics Forum Essay

Whose Child Is She? The Genetics–Gestation Divide

On May 11, the Israeli Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited ruling in the case known as the “Assuta Embryo Mix-Up.” The case has drawn widespread attention in Israel and abroad —...
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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Moving the Needle on Pathogen Sharing and Global Health Equity

Faster access and fairer benefits for all. It sounds simple. But is it?
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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The Budget Bill’s Hidden Health Crisis

The budget bill adopted by the House of Representatives on May 22 is not so much a fiscal blueprint as a manifesto in policy retrenchment. Behind its rhetoric of “restraint”...
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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The Existential Possibilities for Genome Modification of Species

In April, news broke that scientists affiliated with Colossal, a biotech startup, had used genome editing and reproductive technology to achieve the “de-extinction” of the dire wolf. A species that...
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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To Make America Healthy Again, Stop Divesting from Science

Proposed cuts to federal research funding and attacks on universities imperil the longstanding global leadership of the United States in scientific and medical discoveries and raise profound bioethical concerns.
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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Bioethics: Back to the USSR?

Will bioethics continue to exist and in what form? In the United States, where the discipline is most developed and institutionalized, it is under pressure.
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Studying the Emotional Impact of Clinical Ethics Consultation

At some point, it occurred to me that I could actually research the emotional burden of ethics cases on clinical ethicists. This was an epiphany.
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Bioethics Forum Essay
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De-extinction is Here. Now What?

Colossal Biosciences, a biotechnology company, announced that it has achieved a scientific first -- bringing back an extinct animal: the dire wolf. Crucial questions emerge about scientific hubris, playing God with cool new technological toys, and more.
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Bioethics Forum Archive

Hastings Bioethics Forum essays are the opinions of the authors, not of The Hastings Center.

How to reprint/repost: Hastings Bioethics Forum posts can be republished for free. We use a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license.

How to contribute: For questions about contributing to Hastings Bioethics Forum or to submit a commentary, please contact Susan Gilbert, editor, gilberts@thehastingscenter.org.