sacrifice few to benefit the many

Jessica Haynes

Our debate in class on Thursday was very beneficial to class discussion.  The idea of the few being sacrificed to benefit the many has been a continuous theme in our classes.  To continue the discussion I think that it is not right to sacrifice the few.  We all have personal rights that should not be violated in anyway but it is a constant in our society.  I used the example about organ donors in class, to be an organ donor you have to give consent and that is something that will happen when you are dead.  In the case of Henrietta Lacks, she was not able to consent to the things that were done with her cells.  Today we have the IRB form in order to protect people but still, do we have more control over our body when we are dead compared to when we are alive?  I think that we should look at it like this, you go to a psychiatrist and there is an agreement of confidentiality, they won’t violate this or interfere unless the patient poses a threat to themselves or others.  In the case of our rights being violated with our bodies I think we always need to give consent of what happens.  In the extreme cases like a CDC quarantine to prevent the spreading of some sort of epidemic, I think we can look at it like this, they pose a threat to others so it is appropriate to quarantine them, but it should be done in a humane way.