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Asian Journal of Ethics in Health and Medicine

2024 Volume 4

Fetal Patients and Ethics Specialists: Advocating for a Humble Approach


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  1. School of Medicine, Institute of Medical Genetics, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.
  2. Institute for History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
Abstract

In prenatal medicine, ethics consultation offers a way to distribute responsibility for complex choices, especially when moral intuitions alone fail to provide clear guidance. However, it remains uncertain whether the established principles of ethics consultation can be directly applied to the unique circumstances of pregnancy. Our analysis focused on the particular forms of disagreement, conflict, and uncertainty of values that arise in prenatal care, and how an ethics consultation service (ECS) might address them, supported by a case illustration. At present, ethics facilitation and conflict resolution lack a universally accepted normative framework that covers prenatal diagnosis, therapeutic interventions, and reproductive decision-making. Nevertheless, these approaches can still support ethically demanding situations in prenatal medicine if two conditions are observed: (a) ECSs should avoid issuing prescriptive, content-heavy recommendations, and (b) they should not initiate conflict mediation that places the pregnant woman or couple as one of the disputing parties. It is essential for both ethics consultants and healthcare practitioners to recognize the current constraints and risks of ethics consultation in prenatal medicine, while collaboratively contributing to the development of standards tailored to this highly complex field.


How to cite this article
Vancouver
Wilhelmy L, Heimes D. Fetal Patients and Ethics Specialists: Advocating for a Humble Approach. Asian J Ethics Health Med. 2024;4:136-42. https://doi.org/10.51847/YHLzawrV2o
APA
Wilhelmy, L., & Heimes, D. (2024). Fetal Patients and Ethics Specialists: Advocating for a Humble Approach. Asian Journal of Ethics in Health and Medicine, 4, 136-142. https://doi.org/10.51847/YHLzawrV2o
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