Ethics Barbeque Profile: Andre/Andrea

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Andre/Andrea

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are at your school, Rock River Collegiate, attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school. You are sitting with a small group of people whose opinions you very much value. You decide to talk to these people about whether you should give the money (inherited from your grandfather who recently died from type 2 diabetes) to diabetes research using adult stem cells (from donor pancreases obtained after brain death or cardiac death) or to research using embryonic stem cells obtained from blastocysts (5 days after conception).

You will be asking the group the following ethics-based questions to help shed some light on the issues involved in both types of research. The questions in bold are those you should begin the conversation with, while the bulleted questions underneath can be used to prompt further discussion of that question. The group members will then answer these questions in role. Taking turns, you and the other guests at the barbeque (members of your group) will discuss these questions in role.

When do you think life begins?

Does life begin at conception, at gastrulation (14 days), when an embryo can live on its own outside the womb, or at birth?

When do you think an embryo becomes a person?

What makes a person a person? Is it life, consciousness, the ability to feel pain, the ability to live independently outside of the womb, the ability to control one’s own actions?
At what point does an embryo gain the rights of a person? Is it at conception, at gastrulation (14 days, when the embryo implants in the uterus and begins to develop a nervous system), at birth?

What rights do you think an embryo should have?

Does an embryo have the same rights as a person? Does the embryo have rights before it becomes a person and, if so, what are those rights?

How do you think societal needs weigh against the rights of an embryo?

Do the needs of the many (the potential for a treatment that would help diabetes sufferers in the future) outweigh the needs of the few (embryos)?

When do you think life ends?

Does life end with brain death (irreversible cessation of brain functions) or cardiac death (when the heart stops beating)?

When do you think personhood ends?

Does personhood end at brain death or cardiac death? Is the role of the body a ‘vessel’ for the essence of the person, or is the body the person?

What do you think is the value of the human body?

How important is the human body as a part of a person’s identity? Is the body an integral part of what makes a person a person, or is it more of a ‘vessel’ for the person?

Do you think there is an obligation to donate tissues and organs?

Do people have an obligation to donate their organs and tissues to help others? Does the integrity of the body and an individual’s right to decide the fate of his/her body outweigh the needs of society for organs to aid research and treatment

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Chaplain

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are an alumnus of Rock River Collegiate attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school.

You are one of a small group of people whose opinions Andre/Andrea very much values, and when you and these other people are approached by Andre/Andrea about whether he/she should give the money (inherited from his/her grandfather who recently died from type 2 diabetes) to diabetes research using adult stem cells (from donor pancreases obtained after brain death or cardiac death) or to research using embryonic stem cells obtained from blastocysts (5 days after conception), you share your thoughts with Andre/Andrea and the group.

Andre/Andrea will ask the group several ethics-based questions to help him/her make his/her decision. Taking turns, you and the other guests at the BBQ (members of your group), will answer his questions in role. The profile below will give you information about your character’s life and his/her opinions. Feel free to embellish to give your character some ‘personality’ but try not to change the essence of the person.

You will be:

Name: (you choose)

Relation to Andre/Andrea: Favourite uncle (mother’s side)

Gender: male

Age: 39

Affiliations: Canadian Army

Personal History:

Is married and has two children (one boy, one girl)
As chaplain, is a liaison with other spiritual leaders in the civilian community
Has recently returned from a second combat tour in Afghanistan
Has seen widespread human suffering during his 11 years in the army
Believes that organ donation is in keeping with the Catholic Church's teaching on respect for life and the dignity of each human person, and would donate own organs
Does not consider brain death to be death
Considers harvesting a pancreas from a brain-dead person to be a homicide
Believes that every human individual has the right to his/her own life
Believes that life and personhood begins at conception when a new unique genome is created

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Coach

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are an alumnus of Rock River Collegiate attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school.

You will be:

Name: (you choose)

Relation to Andre/Andrea: His/her basketball coach

Gender:Must be same gender as Andre/Andrea

Age: 51

Affiliations:

Personal History:

Is married, but does not have children, and has never wanted children
In addition to coaching several different sports teams, also teaches physical education and health
Strongly believes in healthy living including diet, exercise and regular medical and dental care
Believes in the right of individuals to make their own decisions about whether or not to donate organs
Would personally choose not to be taken off life support if brain-dead
Values body and believes that the body is connected to personhood (would not donate organs)
Believes that life begins when an embryo undergoes gastrulation (when germ layers form and the embryo implants in the uterus) ~14 days into development
Believes that personhood begins when a child is born and his/her umbilical cord is cut

Believes that people who undergo in vitro fertilization treatments should donate their surplus embryos for research after they have had all of the children they want

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are an alumnus of Rock River Collegiate attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school.

You will be:

Name: (you choose)

Relation to Andre/Andrea: Andre/Andrea’s former scout leader

Gender:Female

Age: 29

Affiliations: Scouts Canada

Personal History:

Is married and wants to have children
Likes hiking, kickboxing, archery
In her scout troop, often talks about safety and healthy living
Is very interested in cutting edge medical research
As an EMT, frequently encounters people who have not signed their organ donor card
Believes that organ donation should be mandatory
Believes that ‘cardiac death’ (when the heart stops beating) is a more accurate indicator of death than ‘brain death’
Is currently undergoing fertility treatments and has extra embryos as a result of this
Believes that life and personhood begin at conception
Feels that each of her embryos is one of her potential children
Has not consented to allow her extra embryos to be used for research

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are an alumnus of Rock River Collegiate attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school.

You will be:

Name: (you choose)

Relation to Andre: Mother of Andre’s best friend

Gender: Female

Age: 44

Affiliations: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada), Canadian Bar Association

Personal History:

Is married with one child (daughter)
Eldest son killed by a drunk driver
As a lawyer, focuses on human rights cases and pro bono (free) legal work for victims of impaired driving crimes
Upholds the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms legal right “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person” (section 7)
Her son’s organs were not donated due to concerns from Jewish family members about Jewish law (halacha) prohibiting desecration of the body, gaining benefit from the body and delaying the burial of the body
In accordance with the Talmud, she believes that an embryo less than 40 days does not have the status of ‘personhood’
She would rather see surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization treatments be used for research than be left sitting in freezers

Ethics Barbeque Profile: Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

In this role-taking activity, you are to imagine that it is a warm September evening and you are an alumnus of Rock River Collegiate attending a 50th anniversary barbeque for the school.

You will be:

Name: (you choose)

Relation to Andre: Neighbour and friend of Andre’s family

Gender: Any

Age: 62

Affiliations: New Democratic Party

Personal History:

Is married with three children and five grandchildren
As an MP, participates in House of Commons Standing Committee on Health
Before entering politics was a family doctor
Believes that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practices ahimsa, which means “non-injury”
Feels that it is an honour to donate organs and tissues for the advancement of medical science and to save lives (increases good karma)
Believes that life is connected to consciousness, hence accepts brain death as death

Believes that personhood begins at conception and that a life force, which already exists, enters the body at conception