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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 7 page paper presents an overview of the 2000 case where one twin was sacrificed for the sake of the other. The complicated moral dilemma is explained and solutions are explored through the theories of well known philosophers like Kant, Bentham and Gilligan. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA218co.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
conjoined twins and morality as it enters a decision as to what to do. The case involves siamese twins Jodie and Mary who each have their own brain, heart, lungs
and arms and legs ("In the supreme," 2000). The twins, who were born on August 8, 2000, were joined at the lower abdomen, and while they could be successfully separated,
such an operation would kill the weaker of the two, Mary (2000). The reason is due to the fact that her lungs and heart were deficient and would never successfully
oxygenate and pump blood through her own body (2000). She therefore needed her twin to live. Had she been a singleton, she would not have been viable and would
have died anyway (2000). That said, the problem with forgoing the operation and allowing the girls to live as one unit is that it was no longer a feasible option.
Medical experts say that if they are not separated, both would surely die in about three or six months because Jodies heart would fail eventually ("In the supreme," 2000).
The main problem goes to the following fact of the case: "Jodies aorta feeds into Marys aorta and the arterial circulation runs from Jodie to Mary. The venous return passes
from Mary to Jodie through a united inferior vena cava and other venous channels in the united soft tissues" (2000, p.PG). Although allowing the continuance of the status quo would
mean that both children would die, the parents did not consent to the operation as they viewed it as killing one to save another ("In the supreme," 2000). Religion plays
a role. The parents are Roman Catholics and believe that the situation should be left in Gods hands (2000). Because the doctors believed it is possible to
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