Kimberlie Thomas

08/05/2020

This Is Me Now – Final Paper Assignment

Cultural, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Health Care

Reproductive control

• Something significant I learned: I knew a good amount of information regarding reproductive control before this course, but I never understood exactly why people were so for or against the topic. The greatest thing I learned from this module was that there are many religions that have views against reproductive control. I could understand why some religious organizations would be against birth control because it stops someone from creating life. On the other hand, I was surprised that religions such as Jehovah Witnesses were against invitro. I can understand when a third party is involved to be against it, but when it is to help a mother have a baby, I do not understand why they would be against it.

• How my opinion has been affected: At the beginning of the course I totally supported birth control because it can help prevent a child being conceived unplanned. But after this course I began to realize a deeper meaning of birth control. It truly stops a child from being born. I do not support ending a child's life and, in a sense, this is ending life before it can even be given a chance to live. I am not against birth control completely, but I now see both sides of the debate. I can now see why reproductive control a big debate within religion is. I am still a supporter of helping people have children, and always will be. That aspect of my opinion has not changed throughout this course.

• How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: After learning more into depth about reproduction control I have begun to form my own personal thoughts on the topic rather than what the world wants me to believe.  I can now participate in discussions because I know the pros and cons of different treatments and procedures. Reproduction control is not as much of a touchy subject as some of the other topics discussed in this course, making it easier to talk about among other people.

Abortion

• Something significant I learned: Abortion is the killing of a fetus in a mother womb before it is born. One thing that I learned throughout this course regarding abortion that shocked me was how many people have abortions. The textbook stated that “Twenty-two percent of pregnancies end in an abortion”. Twenty-two may not seem too high when comparing it to one hundred but when you think of how many fetuses were not given the opportunity to live you might rethink how high that percentage is. I knew that abortions were a thing, but I did not know it was that common. There are about 1 million abortions every year according to the textbook.

• How my opinion has been affected: At the beginning of the semester I knew I did not support abortions because that is what I have always been told based on religious and home views. Now after taking this class I have an even stronger opinion about abortion that is my own. I still no not support abortions because in simple words it is murdering a child. I especially have a problem with mothers being allowed to have abortions when the fetus is full term. How does that not murder? Although I am very passionate about not having abortions, I will never hate an individual for doing so because it is their choice and I believe we all have the right to make our own choices. I will never support their actions, but I will still strive to love them.

• How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: In this course we were asked to watch a video of Senator Lankford speaking about Planned Parenthood. Senator Lankford gave an amazing speech that gave me a whole new view on how abortion is handled in government. He mentioned that we pay more attention to other topic regarding animals than we do abortions. I think that there needs to be some major thinking on what our government's views are on children and human life in general. I would say that I now have real fact that allow me to stand up for my views regarding abortion rather than relying on others. I am now very interested in the impact our government has on topics such as abortion.

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• Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

• Something significant I learned: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have been the most intriguing subjects to me this semester. I am going to be completely honest and admit I had no idea that such procedures were a thing until this course. I did learn a lot from this course especially from watching that hour-long documentary about real people participating in euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. It made me sick and emotionally drained me because for some I understood why they wanted to participate but others It broke my little heart to think that they had such a strong desire to die.

• How my opinion has been affected: When we first began this course, we were asked about our views on the subject, When I googled it I thought that in dying circumstances this sounded like a better resorting than suffering. I came home and discussed it with my parents and found out that our religious leaders do not support such action. This continued to be a lengthy conversation as discussed, many aspects of the procedure. By the same we discussed this topic in the course. I was so excited to gain my own opinion, like I had on all previous topics. I can now say I understand why people would choose to die through medical means, but I do not support these actions. I have strong religious views that values life and understands that we all are going to have trials. I think it is miserable to see someone live in pain, but they must have some purpose for being still alive.

• How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: Due to me having knowledge regarding Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, I can now participate in discussions regarding such matters. I have begun to understand that this is a very sensitive topic and it should be handled lightly. I have brought this topic up at work and it has begun to create these very soul search conversations with my co-workers. I have some co-workers that fully support it and others like me who do not think it is okay. Although we have had peaceful conversation because we understand that it is not a discussion about just anything, rather it is about a human life. I can now see where ethical views and laws clash regarding this subject.

Organ transplants, scarce medical resources

• Something significant I learned: I remember when I hit about 8th grade and we were all required to take a health class, the topic of organ donations became a hot topic. Everyone would ask each other if they were to die would they donate their organs. For me that answer was always yes because it would save someone's life. I obviously would not need them anymore because I would be dead. That is all I really knew about transplanting organs to other people. I had no idea that people in other countries that are in poverty are selling their organs. Learning about that has given me a whole new perspective. I always thought that people only gave their organs to family members or people they knew because the patient was dying of kidney failure or something similar. I had no idea that organs were being sent to us from other countries. The worst part is that these people are being old that they are going to get paid for their donation. They might get a little money but sometimes it is a scam and they get nothing. Does not that just break your heart.

• How my opinion has been affected: I one hundred percent support organ transplants because it can prevent an individual from dying. Translate surgeries have saved millions of people’s lives and will continue to do so as technology improves, and organs are available. Although I do not support paying people for donating their organs. I think that if someone willingly donates an organ, knowing that they will get nothing but a good feeling in return, they are doing it for the right reason. If people in poverty are getting paid to donate, they are putting their own lives at risk, creating more problems.

When talking about scarce medical resources my mind goes in circles. I cannot imagine being a doctor and having to decide who should receive treatment first. The sad truth is we are seeing it unfold right before our eyes today with COVID-19. When medical supplies and workers are short there is not much human control. I think that those who are mostly likely to live should get treated first if not everyone can be treated.

• How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: After watching the video in this course regarding both organ transplants and scarce medical supplies, I now have a solid opinion with reasoning to back me up in a discussion. The legal aspect of scarce medical resources is very tricky because you are asking a physician whose only job is to save his patients’ lives, to decide who should live and who should not. I think that there should be laws and policies put in place before situations take place, so no doctors or nurses get sued after a tragic event. I do not feel these topics come up in conversation very often, but when they do, I will be able to have some input. 

Distributing healthcare

• Something significant I learned: When it comes to distributing healthcare, I have no idea that there are so many American that have no coverage for healthcare. I have been blessed with healthcare my whole life and just assumed everyone had it. Although seeing that many people did not have coverage blew my mind, it was more shocking to me that immigrants who migrated to America have coverage. This makes absolutely no sense to me because American’s own citizens are even all covered.

• How my opinion has been affected: We discussed this in class, and it got intense I would have to say. There were others like me that stated that immigrants should not be allowed free healthcare. I think they should be able to get medical help because they are a valued human being, but I do not think they should just be given it with no cost. I did not have an opinion on this subject before the class and now I would say that I think our citizens should get healthcare coverage before others do. If it was a perfect world, I think that everyone should be given free healthcare because it is essential to human life.

• How my ability to discuss/analyze has improved: I am honestly a bit confused on how the government is handling this situation because I still do not understand why some people have no coverage and immigrants do. I feel like I would be able to have a peaceful conversation with my peers about this subject, while still standing strong on my point of view. I respect that everyone has different situations, but I think there is some major improvement that is needed to help disrupt healthcare in The United States. I feel like the ethical thing to do is to treat any patient that needs healthcare no matter their circumstances or coverage. Maybe there could be some way to get setup on a loan for healthcare, so individuals can afford smaller payments rather than a large hospital bill.

The overall impact this class has had on me:

            This class has overall made the greatest impact on my life over any class I have ever taken. I went into this class not knowing what to expect and came out with so much knowledge, I enjoyed this class so much that everyone I surround myself with knows that I have taken this class. I have discussed all the discussions with my family members and co-workers. It amazed me that there are so many different views on specific topic, such as physician-assisted suicide and distribution of healthcare.

            This class opened my eyes and helped me dig deep to see others views and understand where they were coming from. I now know what I believe and my stance on subjects that are so prevalent in our community. I am glad this class had us discuss and watch videos regarding the subjects to give me some real-life situations that hard handled every day. Within out textbook there were different scenario given and some of them I had no clue how to answer. I was grateful I was not actually in that situation at the time.

            The knowledge and skills I learned to combat specific situation in this class will forever stick with me throughout my life. I have overall become a better person and more sympathetic being for those going through these life crisis’. I understand that there is guideline to help protect patients but also healthcare workers. There is something within our healthcare that I do not think is okay, but I can see where everyone is coming from. I have no idea the importance of knowing other religious beliefs on healthcare was until this class as well, that has been one of my favorite parts of this class. I loved this class and will forever be grateful I took it.