Topic: The lawyer that represent the frozen embryos, he believes that the embryos are the legitimate heirs of the couple. He proposes that the embryos should be implanted in the uterus of a suitable and heal
The Case of the Frozen Orphans
The Case of the Frozen Orphans
In this wiki activity, the group must build arguments to decide the fate of three frozen embryos that belong to a couple that perished in an airplane crash. There are many moral questions in this activity to be considered. Some members of your group will write arguments in favor of recognizing the embryos as human beings, and other members must write arguments opposed to that idea. This activity was built based on a real legal case. Thus, there is plenty of information about these issues.
Each member of your group will be given a role. Write an argument according to your role by looking for facts and precedents that support your position. You must research this ethical dilemma from all perspectives. There are plenty of ethical, medical and legal arguments with regards to whether or not an embryo is alive, if they are protected by law, and what (if any) are the rights of humans embryos. Do not give your personal opinion in your argument, however, do provide a stance at the end of your argument based on your role.
The Case Study:
A wealthy couple from Chile traveled to Australia to undergo an in-vitro fertilization procedure. Five viable embryos were obtained and two were implanted in the female uterus but resulted in miscarriages. The physician advised the couple to wait for at least 6 months before they try another implantation procedure. During that time, the embryos remained frozen in the fertility clinic. On their flight back to Chile, the couple’s private jet crashed, killing them. They left an inheritance of 5.7 million dollars. In their “Last Will and Testament” (which they wrote before they tried the IVF), the couple left their 5.7 million dollars to an orphanage. However, before the will could be executed, a lawyer from Australia (who learned about the existence of the frozen embryos) went to court to argue that these embryos were the legitimate heirs of the couple. Thus, the embryos were the sole beneficiaries of the inheritance. According to court documents, the lawyer claimed that life starts at the moment of conception and that those embryos were legitimate beneficiaries of the couple’s inheritance. In the document, the lawyer named himself the trust administrator of the state until the couple’s children come of age.
Instructions for the wiki activity:
Each member of the group should play one of the following roles:
The arguments must contain a minimum of 600 words. Each argument should be based on facts and precedents. In your argument, you must use ethical principles and ethical theories. The citation of these facts and precedents must be added at the end of the argument. Try to avoid resources from the internet unless the internet citation is from any of the branches of the US government, European government, and/or Australian government. You can include figures, graphs, video clips, and audio clips, but this material will not be included as parts of your 600 words. You must research your position to the fullest possible extent. Don’t copy and paste information because preceptors will use Turnitin to identify plagiarism. Remember to submit your argument to d2l in addition to posting under your group wiki page.
Make sure all submissions are in Microsoft Word Format, posted here on this forum, and submitted to the D2L dropbox/assignments page. If it is not in the correct format and is not submitted in the proper places it will not be graded.
