Bioethics in Democracy : Transforming the Clash of Absolutes into Human Rights Issues

Beširević, Violeta (2012) Bioethics in Democracy : Transforming the Clash of Absolutes into Human Rights Issues. In: Bioethik, Medizin, Politik : Beiträge des 6. Südosteuropäischen Bioethik-Forums, Belgrad 2010 = Bioethics, medicine, poltitics [i.e. politics] : proceeedings of the 6th Southeast European Bioethics Forum, Belgrade 2010 / Walter Schweidler (Hrsg.). Academia Verlag, Sankt Augustin, pp. 79-89. ISBN 978-3-89665-568-4

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Abstract

Unavoidable social consequences of its practices made bioethics a public policy field rather than merely an academic discipline. Such a development unavoidably implies governmental interpretation, action, inaction and decision-making regarding bioethical issues and practices, which further means that in setting bioethical standards, apolitical bioethics is not anymore a dominant form of discourse. For policy purposes human rights approach has become a dominant approach, particularly on the international level. International human rights law has already offered guidance on how to regulate medical and bioethical practices in order to protect individual interests that might collide with biotechnological advances or scientific research. Yet, while in the context of bioethics the rights talk in some cases can serve as the best framework to articulate moral consensus, in others, rights recognition can make the issue additionally mooted and invisible. The purpose of this chapter is to assess advantages and limits of the approach and examine whether it has led to a closer agreement on some of the thorniest topics, including euthanasia, cloning and abortion.

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