Many of you know that my concentration as both an undergraduate and graduate student was Medical Ethics. I came to it naturally, really. My hero, my grandmother, was a nurse, and practiced up into her mid-70′s. And, I was a Philosophy major in college. My advisor was the Medical Ethicist for the State of NC, so a natural progression for me to go into that area. At the time, my focus was on Senior Citizens after watching the patronizing, condescending way the nurses treated my grandmother when she landed in the hospital one time. She who resembled a Marine Drill Sergeant more than anything else, who had been the charge nurse for years and years, and who was still most definitely sharp as a tack.
But with Medical Ethics, one has to be prepared for any number of issues to arise, including while I was at Union, in NYC. Many people don’t realize this, but NYC has the largest gay population in the country, and when AIDS hit, it hit there HARD. I was in graduate school at the time. And AIDS was the focus of my Master’s thesis, especially since a number of my friends at Union were, sadly, diagnosed with the disease.
And so, it always catches my eye when I see Medical Ethics discussed in the media. That was definitely the case when I saw this headline yesterday, “Ethicists Argue for Post Birth Abortions.” Wow, WHAT?? Did I really read that right? Sadly, the answer is: yes. I did, and so did you.
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