Affiliation:
1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Connecticut Children's University of Connecticut Farmington CT USA
2. NeuroDevelopmental Science Center Akron Children's Hospital Akron OH USA
3. Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston MA USA
4. Departments of Paediatrics, Pathology (Neuropathology), and Clinical Neurosciences University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute Calgary Alberta Canada
5. Department of Pediatrics Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago IL USA
6. The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Pediatrics and Neurology Chicago IL USA
Abstract
AbstractThe aim of this review was to discuss bioethics in prenatal diagnosis and health care after recent legislative and judicial changes affecting reproductive rights, such as the repeal of ‘Roe v. Wade’ in the United States. We recognize that abortion involves particular moralities that are not universal or shared by all cultures, groups, and individuals. We reviewed the historical aspects of embryology and personhood, fetal morbidity and mortality, and parental options for prenatal diagnostic testing. We examined relevant ethical issues including informed consent, the emergence of fetal pain, reproductive autonomy, the fiduciary responsibilities of pregnant mothers, and the obligations of physicians caring for the maternal–fetal dyad. The code of medical ethics includes respect for decisional privacy and the protection of information shared in confidence. When a fetal anomaly is diagnosed, pregnant mothers must be informed about the risks, burdens, and alternatives in either continuing or terminating the pregnancy. Parental choice should include the right to refuse testing, the informed choice not to know about certain genetic test results, and the right to make informed decisions about the best interests of the future child. In the diagnosis and care of fetal anomalies, moral dilemmas arise. Before fetal viability, the mother's autonomy, sense of beneficence, and personal values should be trusted and respected. Perinatal palliative care should be available to pregnant mothers whose anomalous fetus is carried to birth.
Subject
Neurology (clinical),Developmental Neuroscience,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Cited by
10 articles.
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