Exploring Ethical Dilemmas in Today's World

Physician-Assisted Suicide

Choose one of the following ethical dilemmas:

1)Frank Van Den Bleeken has been in prison in Belgium for the past thirty years on account of committing rape and murder. According to authorities, he will never be released due to his inability to control his violent sexual urges.  In 2011, he requested to undergo physician assisted suicide, citing that life imprisonment would cause him “unbearable psychological anguish.”  Belgium does not have the death penalty, but it does allow people to undergo physician assisted suicide if they are experiencing intolerable suffering (both physically and/or mentally).  Is it ethical to allow Frank to undergo the procedure? 

2)A recent court case in Connecticut involved a surrogate mother who refused the biological parents’ request for an abortion.  In this particular case, Crystal Kelley acted as a surrogate mother for a couple that hired her to do so for $22,000 dollars.  Five months into the pregnancy a routine ultrasound revealed that the fetus had a cleft lip and palate, cyst in its brain and serious heart defects.  Doctors informed the parents that the fetus would probably survive, but, nevertheless, there was only a 25% chance that it would “develop normally”.  Considering the prognosis, the parents informed Kelley that they wished for her to undergo an abortion.  After Kelley refused, they offered her another $10,000 to undergo the procedure, and, through a lawyer, informed her that she had a legal obligation to do so (i.e. part of the surrogacy contract in Connecticut gives parents the right to terminate the pregnancy).  In this particular case, what is the moral option?       

3)California has recently passed a bill that requires university campuses to adopt “affirmative consent” language with regards to sexuality activity.  In essence, students now need explicit affirmation from each other prior to engaging in sex.  As such, the bill is sometimes referred to as “yes means yes”.  Should students be required to gain affirmative consent from one another or is consent implied so long as someone does not say no (hence the slogan “no means no”)?

4)In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court gave same-sex couples the right to marry.  In spite of the court ruling, however, Kim Davies, a democratically-elected county clerk in Kentucky, refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  She cited her Christian beliefs and claimed that it was her religious right to do so. Nevertheless, the U.S. District Court disagreed and placed her in jail for five days.  What is the moral option in this particular case?   

5)A group of Russian and South Korean scientists hope to clone a mammoth from a well-preserved specimen discovered in 2013.  The procedure would involve extracting somatic cells from the mammoth’s bone marrow, fusing them with eggs taken from elephants, and, in turn, implanting the embryo into an elephant that would act as the surrogate mother.  Is such a procedure moral?  Why or why not? 
6)According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), male nurses account for roughly six percent of the country’s nursing population. In order to increase these numbers, should Lethbridge College employ strong affirmative action programs?  Why or why not?
7)Kinder Morgan received government approval to extend the Trans-Mountain pipeline through British Columbia to the West Coast. The government of British Columbia and other citizen groups opposed the expansion for environmental and other reasons but recently the Government of Canada made plans to purchase the pipeline to continue the expansion despite opposition. Is the construction of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline ethical?
8)Should the USA and its allies use waterboarding in its interrogation techniques of suspected terrorists?  Why or why not?