Protection of the Right to Life and Health of Medical Staff in Public Health Emergency: Based on the Case of COVID-19 Epidemic / 中国医学伦理学

With the COVID-19 outbreak, many provinces and municipalities have announced the first-level response to public health emergencies. As the backbone of fighting the epidemic, medical staff are faced with many ethical dilemmas, such as the lack of medical protection materials, the high risk of virus infection, discrimination and so on, and their health and life rights and interests have been impacted. Starting with the concept of public health emergencies and the right to life and health, the theory and display basis of the right of life and health were discussed based on the practical guidelines of public health emergencies. Taking the COVID-19 epidemic as an example, this paper proposed measures for ensuring the right to life and health of medical staff in public health emergencies, so as to better cope with the epidemic of COVID-19 and protect the life and health of medical workers.

Dilemma and Reflection on Children Exercising the Right of Medical Decision-making / 中国医学伦理学

Whether children can exercise their medical decision-making power has always been a controversial topic in law and ethics, and it is also the focus of attention of people from all walks of life. In this regard, combined with the problems existing in the exercise of children’s medical decision-making power, such as conflict with the right to life and health, insufficient guarantee of the right to informed consent system, and the legal guardian’s exercise of children’s medical decision-making power may not be in the best interests of children. This paper discussed the dilemma and feasibility of children’s exercise of medical decision-making power from three aspects: children’s right to life and health, the evaluation of informed consent and medical decision-making ability, and the thinking of children’s informed consent and medical decision-making ability, and pointed out that children who are able to make self-determination should be fully endowed with legal medical decision-making power, so as to ensure their best interests in medical clinic.

O debate sobre aborto na câmara de deputados no Brasil entre 2015 e 2017: Agenda conservadora e resistência / El debate sobre el aborto en la Cámara de Diputados en Brasil entre 2015 y 2017: agenda conservadora y resistencia / The abortion debate at the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil, 2015 to 2017: conservative agenda and resistance

Resumo O artigo aborda o debate público sobre aborto no Brasil a partir de investigação documental realizada na Câmara de Deputados no Brasil nos anos de 2015 a 2017. Fez-se o levantamento de discursos e de proposições legislativas no portal da Câmara de Deputados. A pesquisa considera as posições acerca do aborto e o tipo de argumentação usada como fundamento. Também se examina o perfil dos deputados quanto a partido político e a pertencimento religioso. Foram identificados argumentos de caráter religioso, legal e científico ou naturalizante nos documentos analisados. Os principais tópicos de debate foram consequências da epidemia de Zika, além de duas ações no Supremo Tribunal Federal pleiteando a descriminalização do aborto, uma em caso de infecção por Zika, outra até a décima segunda semana de gestação. Constata-se o engajamento de atores religiosos, defensores do direito à vida, na restrição ao aborto legal.

Resumen El artículo aborda el debate público sobre el aborto en Brasil a partir de la investigación documental realizada en la Cámara de Diputados en Brasil de 2015 a 2017. Se realizó la encuesta de discursos y propuestas legislativas en el portal de la Cámara de Diputados. La investigación considera las posiciones sobre el aborto y el tipo de argumento utilizado como base. También examina el perfil de los diputados con respecto al partido político y la pertenencia religiosa. Se identificaron argumentos religiosos, legales y científicos o de naturalización en los documentos analizados. Los principales temas de debate fueron las consecuencias de la epidemia de Zika, así como dos acciones en la Corte Suprema Federal que pedían la despenalización del aborto en caso de infección por Zika, otra hasta la duodécima semana de embarazo. Existe la participación de actores religiosos, defensores del derecho a la vida, en la restricción del aborto legal.

Abstract This article will address public debate on abortion in Brazil, based on document research on the proceedings of Chamber of Deputies from 2015 to 2017. The research retrieved speeches and bills from the Chamber's web portal. I analyze stands regarding abortion and the type of arguments used as basis for the debate. I also examine representatives' profiles in terms of political party and religion. Different types or arguments were found: religious, legal, scientific or naturalizing. The main topics of debate were: consequences of Zika outbreak and two actions in Supreme Court, one claiming decriminalization in case of Zika, the other up to the 12th week pregnancy. Religious actors are the most engaged for right to life, trying to restrict legal abortion.

A segurança do paciente à luz do referencial dos direitos humanos / Patient safety in light of the human rights framework

Este artigo tem por objetivo a elaboração de aporte teórico que ampare a concepção de que a segurança do paciente se interconecta com a obrigação dos Estados de preservar a vida de seus jurisdicionados, bem como é uma expressão do direito à saúde sob o prisma do Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos – que compreende os tratados de direitos humanos e a jurisprudência internacional emanada dos órgãos de direitos humanos situados na ONU, no Sistema Interamericano de Direitos Humanos e no Sistema Europeu de Direitos Humanos. Com o escopo de desenvolver a acepção de segurança do paciente sustentada sob o prisma do direito à vida e do direito à saúde, adotou-se pesquisa de revisão bibliográfica e documental, destacando-se o levantamento e a análise de relatórios e decisões produzidos pelos órgãos de direitos humanos apontados. Em conclusão, o direito ao cuidado em saúde seguro, derivado do direito à vida e do direito à saúde, deve ser objeto de regulação por parte dos Estados, ou seja, sustenta-se neste artigo que certo elenco de medidas gerais de segurança do paciente seja legalmente instituído, de modo a enunciar explicitamente o direito ao cuidado em saúde seguro, enquanto um dos direitos humanos do paciente. Com efeito, a implantação da cultura de segurança do paciente é uma obrigação dos Estados; sua negligência em efetivá-la por meio de medidas legislativas, de políticas públicas e de orçamento próprio consiste em infringência aos comandos internacionais de direitos humanos.

This article aims to draw up a theoretical contribution to sustain the view that patient safety is interconnected with the obligation of States to preserve the lives of their citizens and that patient safety is an expression of the right to health, from the perspective of international human rights, comprising the human rights treaties and international jurisprudence emanating from human rights bodies located at the United Nations, the Inter-American Human Rights System and the European Human Rights System. With the aim of developing the patient safety based on the right to life and the right to health, we have adopted a bibliographical and a documentary research, highlighting the review and analysis of reports and decisions made by human rights organs. In conclusion, the right to safe healthcare, derived from the right to life and the right to health, should be subject to state regulations, that is, we argue that the state should establish a certain cast of general measures of patient safety, in order to explicit the right to safe healthcare, as one of the human rights of the patient. Indeed, the implementation of a patient safety culture is a State obligation; its disregard in defining it as a result of a legislative, public policy or budget lack, involves an international human rights violation.

El aborto no punible es una cuestión de derechos humanos y de clases de humanas / Non-punishable abortion is a matter of human and class human rights

El acceso al aborto no punible es un derecho humano de las mujeres. Interpela directamente los mandatos culturales de maternidad que se arraigan en la sociedad. Por lo mismo, despierta opiniones encontradas que deben ceder ante el consenso moral que precede a la legalidad

Access to legal abortion is a human right of women. It challenges directly maternity cultural mandates that are rooted in society. For this reason, awakens conflicting opinions must yield to the moral consensus that precedes the law

Acesso ao aborto legal é um direito humano das mulheres. Desafia diretamente maternidade mandatos culturais que estão enraizados na sociedade. Por este motivo, desperta opiniões conflitantes deve ceder ao consenso moral que precede a lei

O direito de viver a própria morte e sua constitucionalidade / The right to live one's own death and its constitutionality

O artigo se propõe a refletir acerca da legalidade da manifestação antecipada de vontade, instituída no Brasil por meio da Resolução nº. 1.995/12 do Conselho Federal de Medicina, em face da omissão legislativa e considerando a possível vinculação dos médicos e familiares de pacientes terminais ao Testamento Vital. Analisa a constitucionalidade dessas diretivas e, por conseguinte, a constitucionalidade da própria Resolução à luz do novo paradigma constitucional brasileiro.

The article seeks to reflect on the legality of the early manifestation of will, established in Brazil through Resolution No. 1.995/12 of the Federal Council of Medicine in the face of the legislative omission and considering the possible linkage of physicians and relatives of terminally ill patients in drafting the Last Will and Testament. It examines the constitutionality of these policies and, therefore, the constitutionality of the resolution itself in light of the new Brazilian constitutional paradigm.

Lectura clínica de una sentencia judicial: el derecho a la vida y su aplicación en la toma de decisiones clínicas / Clinical interpretation of a court ruling: the right to life and its application in clinical decision making

En el año 2009 se conoce el caso de un niño afectado de leucemia aguda linfoblástica. Es tratado con buen resultado y se obtiene la remisión completa, pero más tarde aparece una recidiva. Los padres no otorgan su consentimiento para el tratamiento, generando un conflicto que llega al mundo judicial y da lugar a dos fallos de gran interés para los profesionales de la salud. Por una parte se señala qué signfica en la práctica clínica el derecho a la vida. Por otra, se desarrolla el proceso de toma de decisiones sobre los menores con base en la teoría del menor maduro, un hito jurispridencial en Chile. Con el propósito de contribuir a esclarecer el significado de la sentencia de la Corte de Apelaciones de Valdivia, se expone su contenido en términos clínicos y se concluye con las aportaciones más significativas.

In 2009, the case of a child affected by acute lymphoblastic leukemia took place. He is treated with good results resulting in complete remission, but relapse occurred later. The parents did not consent to the new treatment, creating a conflict that reaches the legal world and leads to two court rulings of great interest to health professionals. One explained the meaning of the right to life in the clinical practice, and the other dealt with the decision-making process regarding minors based on the theory of the mature minor doctrine, a jurisprudential milestone in Chile. In order to help clarify the meaning of the ruling of the Corte de Apelaciones of Valdivia, its content is presented in clinical terms and ended with the most significant contributions.

Reflections on the Right to Palliative Care in Bangladesh: Legal Regime Revisited.

ABSTRACT: Patients with life-limiting illness and their families face many problems and complexities. The gravity of such problem is often escalated with the fact of the patients‘ deprivation of the proper care as a corollary to their fundamental health rights. The legal aspects of the palliative care thus concern the issues of concentrating more on the rights of the patients in getting relief from sufferings of all kinds, physical, psychological and spiritual. As such, it may include the opportunity of getting legal interventions not only in the way of claiming the protection of palliative care (such as securing access to health and social benefits) but also in the face of dealing with other life-transactions of the patients and their families (such as protecting and disposing of property; planning for children and other dependents). This paper is an attempt to articulate these legal dimensions of the right to palliative care in the context of Bangladesh. The major focus of this paper will be founded on the wide-ranging constitutional obligation on the right to health, which offers a meaningful space for the right to palliative care by way of implications. More importantly, this paper will clarify the point that taking the right to palliative care seriously will at least result in sensitizing the health right of the people of Bangladesh, especially for the poor communities, having limited awareness of their human rights and limited access to and little experience of legal services.

Estado actual de los derechos a la identidad, a la vida y la vivienda en la población víctima del desplazamiento forzado en Antioquia / Current state of the rights to identity, to life, and to housing, in the population victim of forced displacement in Antioquia

El siguiente artículo es un informe de investigación que expone el diseño metodológico de una serie de indicadores que permiten establecer el estado del Goce Efectivo de Derechos (GED) de la población en situación de desplazamiento en el departamento de Antioquia. El informe GED fue realizado a partir de mandatos emanados de la Corte Constitucional colombiana en aras de la superación del estado de cosas inconstitucional de la atención de la población víctima del desplazamiento. En el artículo, el segundo de una serie de cuatro entregas, se expondrá tanto el diseño como la medición de tres indicadores: derecho a la vida, derecho a una vivienda digna y derecho a la identidad de la población estudiada.

The following article is a research report that exposes the methodological design in a series of indicators that allow you to set the state of the Effective Enjoyment of Rights (EER) of the population in situation of displacement in the State of Antioquia. The EER report was made from mandates arising from the Colombian Constitutional Court in the interest of the overcoming of the unconstitutional state of affairs for the attention of the population victim of displacement. In the article, the second in a series of four issues, both the design and the measurement of three indicators will be exposed: right to life, the right to decent housing, and right to identity of the studied population.

El aborto terapéutico: un nuevo intento de despenalizar el aborto en el derecho chileno / Therapeutic abortion: a new attempt to decriminalize abortion in Chilean law

En nuestro país recientemente se han presentado dos mociones parlamentarias destinadas a la legalización del llamado aborto terapéutico, concepto difuso y equívoco. Se analiza esta posibilidad legislativa a la luz de la doctrina y la normativa constitucional chilena que protege expresamente la vida del que está por nacer, procurando distinguir aquellas figuras de interrupción del embarazo validadas por el Derecho de las que constituyen aborto provocado, reconociendo quela despenalización de una forma de estas últimas es, necesariamente, admitir el aborto en Chile.

Two parliamentary motions have recently been introduced to discuss the legalization of so-called therapeutic abortion, an ambiguous and equivocal concept. The goal is to analyze this possible legal reform under legal doctrine and the Chilean constitution, which expressly protects the life of the fetus, trying to distinguish all forms of pregnancy termination that are allowed by Chilean law, versus others that are induced and not permitted, recognizing that the decriminalization of the latter will necessarily lead to allowing abortion in Chile.

The Necessity and Direction of revising Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law / 대한산부인과학회지

According to the social development, women's participation of social work is increased, and it is argued that artificial abortion of fetus can be accepted freely and easily as the respect of the women's right of self-decision on reproduction. This is the conflicts of view in prolife and prochoice. In Korea, there is the strong forbidden clause of criminal law about abortion. But in reality, a lot of illegal abortion are performed despite of the permissible clause in the Mother and Child Health Law. So I reviewed and recommended the revision of Article 14 in the Mother and Child Health Law to the active direction. I am basically opposed to abortion for human dignity especially the right to life of fetus and the prevention of the mother's health from the complication of abortion procedure. The permissible period of abortion must be shortened from gestation 28 weeks to gestation 24 weeks. The reason of severe fetal abnormality need not to be inserted to the permissible clause to abortion, but it is desirable that the meaning of that reason should be included. The socioeconomic reason of the permissible clause to abortion could mean the permission of abortion. So I object to adding the socioeconomic reason for artificial abortion to the revised the Mother and Child Health Law. But if needed, it is necessary to prepare for the effective procedure on consultation before abortion. I agree to the revision of the penalty provision against illegal abortion for the purpose of protecting life and preventing the illegal abortion. It is rightful to prevent human life and keep the value, and in addition, we must concern to the prevention of embryos who have the potential to the individual in the future. So I think that it is necessary to prepare the ethical guidelines or the regulations for the protection of embryos.

The Necessity and Direction of revising Article 14 of the Mother and Child Health Law / 대한산부인과학회지

According to the social development, women's participation of social work is increased, and it is argued that artificial abortion of fetus can be accepted freely and easily as the respect of the women's right of self-decision on reproduction. This is the conflicts of view in prolife and prochoice. In Korea, there is the strong forbidden clause of criminal law about abortion. But in reality, a lot of illegal abortion are performed despite of the permissible clause in the Mother and Child Health Law. So I reviewed and recommended the revision of Article 14 in the Mother and Child Health Law to the active direction. I am basically opposed to abortion for human dignity especially the right to life of fetus and the prevention of the mother's health from the complication of abortion procedure. The permissible period of abortion must be shortened from gestation 28 weeks to gestation 24 weeks. The reason of severe fetal abnormality need not to be inserted to the permissible clause to abortion, but it is desirable that the meaning of that reason should be included. The socioeconomic reason of the permissible clause to abortion could mean the permission of abortion. So I object to adding the socioeconomic reason for artificial abortion to the revised the Mother and Child Health Law. But if needed, it is necessary to prepare for the effective procedure on consultation before abortion. I agree to the revision of the penalty provision against illegal abortion for the purpose of protecting life and preventing the illegal abortion. It is rightful to prevent human life and keep the value, and in addition, we must concern to the prevention of embryos who have the potential to the individual in the future. So I think that it is necessary to prepare the ethical guidelines or the regulations for the protection of embryos.

Los efectos jurídicos del fallo del Excelentísimo Tribunal Constitucional sobre la llamada “píldora del día después” / The legal effects of the resolution of Constitutional Court about the mornig-after pill

El tema de la llamada “píldora del día después” o “píldora del día siguiente” se inició en Chile con una serie de acciones ante los tribunales ordinarios con resultados muy contradictorios, tras lo cual el fallo del Tribunal Constitucional de abril de 2008 resultó una importante definición acerca del estatuto del embrión humano, la protección de la vida y el principio precautorio aplicado a ella, aunque no pudo extenderse a todas las materias relacionadas con la PDD por ser la competencia del Tribunal muy acotada. Sin embargo, los efectos de ese fallo se proyectan de modo muy interesante hacia la interpretación constitucional futura y constituyen una clave en la lectura de los derechos fundamentales desde nuestra Constitución de 1980.

The Constitutional Court ruling on the so-called “the day after pill” or “morning-after pill” has come to settle a long controversy that began in the ordinary tribunals and courts of justice, rather than determinate the drug have antianidatorio effect or not, this means, if prevented or not the zygote can continue development in the womb of the mother. This situation has meant the decision to provide protection to the human embryo at the possibility of damage, which imports a precautionary statement around the right to life and it needed the protection of the human being from the moment of the conception.