ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to show a paradigmatic crisis in academic bioethics. Since an important part of bioethicists began to relativize the ethical prohibition of killing an innocent human being, one way or another they began to ally with the death industry: the business of abortion, and then that of euthanasia. The thesis of this paper is that by crossing that Rubicon bioethics has been corrupted and has lost its connection to the ethical, political and legal discourse. One can only hope that it will revive from its ashes if it retakes the â³tabooâ³ of the sacredness of human life, something for which medical ethics could provide invaluable help, because it still keeps the notion that â³a doctor should not killâ³, although in an excessively â³discreetâ³ and somehow â³ashamedâ³ way. However, conscientious doctors know more about ethics than most bioethicists.
Subject(s)
Abortion, Induced/ethics , Bioethics/trends , Ethics, Medical , Euthanasia/ethics , Value of Life , Abortion, Induced/legislation & jurisprudence , Abortion, Induced/trends , Attitude to Death , Bioethical Issues , Europe , Euthanasia/legislation & jurisprudence , Euthanasia/trends , Hippocratic Oath , Human Rights , Humans , Morals , Philosophy , Physician-Patient Relations , Politics , Spirituality , Terminal Care/ethics , Terminal Care/trendsABSTRACT
El objeto de este artículo es mostrar la crisis paradigmática que vive la bioética académica. Desde que una parte importante del gremio de los bioeticistas comenzó a relativizar la prohibición ética de dar muerte a un ser humano inocente, de una forma u otra comenzó a aliarse con la industria de la muerte: el negocio del aborto provocado y, después, de la eutanasia. La tesis de este trabajo es que al cruzar ese Rubicón la bioética se ha corrompido, y ha perdido su conexión con el discurso ético, político y jurídico. Sólo cabe esperar que resurja de sus cenizas si recupera el «tabú» de la sacralidad de la vida humana, algo para lo que la Ética Médica podría suministrar una ayuda inestimable, pues aún se conserva ahí la referencia de que «un médico no debe matar», si bien en forma excesivamente discreta, y algo avergonzada. De todos modos, los médicos con conciencia saben más de ética que la mayor parte de los bioeticistas
The purpose of this paper is to show a paradigmatic crisis in academic bioethics. Since an important part of bioethicists began to relativize the ethical prohibition of killing an innocent human being, one way or another they began to ally with the death industry: the business of abortion, and then that of euthanasia. The thesis of this paper is that by crossing that Rubicon bioethics has been corrupted and has lost its connection to the ethical, political and legal discourse. One can only hope that it will revive from its ashes if it retakes the taboo of the sacredness of human life, something for which medical ethics could provide invaluable help, because it still keeps the notion that a doctor should not kill, although in an excessively discreet and somehow «ashamed» way. However, conscientious doctors know more about ethics than most bioethicists
