Case Study

Baby Rebecca was born in Florida (United States of America) in 1992 with anencephaly, one of the worst genetic disorders. Sometimes referred to as "babies without brains", infants with this disease are born without important parts of the brain and the top of the skull is also missing. Most cases detected during pregnancy are usually aborted. About half of those not aborted are stillborn. In the United States, about 350 babies are born alive each year and usually die within days. Baby Rebecca was born alive. Her parents decided to donate her organs for transplant. Her parents and her physicians agreed that the organs should be removed while she was alive (thus causing her inevitable death to take place sooner), but this was not allowed by Florida law. When she died after nine days the organs had deteriorated too much and could not be used.

Answer the following questions based on the case study above:

1. In your opinion how important is a human life and how do you value it? (10 mark)

2. What should one do when there is a conflict between the law and one's own moral position about an issue?

3. If you were given the choice to make the final decision in the case above, what will it be and why?