Science, Now With Representation!

Through much of our work talking about the different methods and blunders of study in biology when it comes to ethics, we have talked about the absentee situation of the disabled. JSTORE, a responsible resource for many the academic mind, published many article reviews all in one place talking about the different perspectives of the disabled. Much of this article goes into the retrospectives and ripples of the disabled communities in the past and how they reflect on the future. I decided to dive into one of them myself.

On Thursday we talked a lot about end of life care and the responsibility that kind of service has for the different people involved. In the article, "Recognizing Death while Affirming Life: Can End of Life Reform Uphold a Disabled Person's Interest in Continued Life?" , Asch criticizes the focus on how good one's life is, or quality of life, over the actual value when it comes to the disabled. She goes on to say that many of the cases we have today where a disabled person goes to court for the right to die, could have been headed off with counseling and compassion if they were not disabled. One such case used was Elizabeth Bouvia, a woman with cerebral palsy who was a charge of the state and asked to stop being fed. Being seen as a burden and being in pain, some support could have helped her live a normal life. At the same time, the fact that doctors could refuse her choice because she was disabled feels just as frustrating. Situations like this and David Rifkin's, are concerning as to the value we place on a person's existence.