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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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Collecting Migrant Children’s DNA: A Troubling, but Predictable, Trend in the U.S.

Recent reports reveal that the U.S. government is systematically collecting DNA from migrant children, some as young as 4 years old, and storing it (perhaps indefinitely) in the FBI’s national...
Read Collecting Migrant Children’s DNA: A Troubling, but Predictable, Trend in the U.S.
Bioethics Forum Essay
woman testing blood with diabetes strip

Sweet Vindication for Stem Cell Research, and American Science

A small group of people with a severe form of type 1 diabetes have been successfully treated with pancreatic cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. This moment should not pass without recognition of the historical context.
Read Sweet Vindication for Stem Cell Research, and American Science
Bioethics Forum Essay
younger white woman helping older white woman to walk

Doing Right by Family Caregivers During Discharge Planning

As family caregivers who are everywhere yet overlooked in aging societies worldwide, we ponder and discuss this question as bioethicists: “Who cast me in this role?”
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Bioethics Forum Essay
baby feet of white baby in hospital

Whole Genome Newborn Sequencing Should Not Be a Free-for-all

Tens of thousands of parents have enrolled their newborns in whole genome sequencing research projects. Parents should know what they information from this research can and cannot tell them.
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Bioethics Forum Essay
flowery cover of book titled The Art of Flourishing

 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
husky dog with blue eyes

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
heart monitor

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
words social security

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
stethoscope and glass globe

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
maggots

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 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.