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As science and medicine continue to evolve with advancements in technology, we as man must examine the moral and ethical principles that are possibly being overlooked. Presently, medical experiments involving the fetus show results that are considered by most to be promising. Such results include better treatments for many diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Parents are now even able to “screen” their embryos for diseases and choose one that has the best chance of living a healthy life. Results such as these do sound beneficial, but that acts in which these results are derived are what we must consider. Is it morally justifiable to perform fetal experimentation? To ethically analyze this we must consider the following questions: Can the fetus be considered a human? Is the fetus morally equivalent to a human being? Who, if anybody has the right to give consent to such experimentations? What or who should fetal experimentation is aimed to benefit. First we will consider if the fetus can be considered a human. It is widely agreed that the fetus has the potential to be a human being; the controversy is if the fetus is human before birth. “If the young, previable fetus is accorded full status as a person or patient, then the ethical barriers to fetal research are insurmountable, and the only ethical position is to stop all research that does not benefit the participating fetus.” (Moody p. 101) However, if the fetus is not considered a person and is categorized at the other extreme then, “the fetus is defined as merely maternal tissue, like an excised tumor or kidney, then regardless of whether the tissue is living or dead, the ethical questions evaporate.”(Moody p.
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