Bioethics – My Sister’s Keeper - Movie Analysis: Submitted to: Sr. Ma. Teresita V. Parreño, SPC

ST. PAUL UNIVERSITY DUMAGUETE ST.JOSEPH SOUTHERN BUKIDNON HOSPITAL MARAMAG, BUKIDNON

BIOETHICS – My Sister’s Keeper - Movie Analysis

Submitted to: Sr. Ma. Teresita V. Parreño, SPC

Submitted by: Alvin U. Buscar, RN

DATE SUBMITTED November 4, 2012

My Sister’s Keeper – Movie Analysis In this paper I am going to identify some legal and ethical issues in My Sister’s Keeper. Some of those issues include emancipation of a minor, genetic engineering, and limited termination of parental rights. I will be giving my opinion on these matters also. My Sister's keeper is a good movie, is an emotionally riveting story of life, a film about a family who conceives a child strictly for the use as bone marrow donor for her gravely ill older sister. Kate is diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia at the age of two; (APL) is a unique subtype of the acute leukemias. It has distinct cytogenetics, clinical features, and biologic characteristics. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is caused by an arrest of leukocyte differentiation at the promyelocyte stage (http://emedicine.medscape.com). Most of this is told through flashbacks, as each member of the family. As their doctor tells them of their options, he asks Sara and Brian, the parents, have they thought about having another child who would be a “match” for Kate. The doctor goes on to tell them that he is not legally supposed to tell them about this option. He tells them that they could “design” their child so she would match Kate, since none of the other family members are a match and it would probably be years before a match would be found on the transplant list.

So Anna is created.

Genetic engineering is the manipulation of DNA within the cells of plants and animals, through synthesis, alteration, or repair, to ensure that certain harmful traits will be eliminated in offspring and those desirable traits will appear and be passed on.

From

the time Anna was born, she was poked and prodded for stems cells and bone marrow. As she gets older she realizes what is going to eventually happen to her and why her parents “brought” her into this world, when they had so much more to deal with.

She

doesn’t come to this conclusion on her own, Kate has a hand in helping Anna figure it, even

though

she

is

a

very

smart

child.

I am not in favor of genetically engineering children. I find it ethically wrong. You are going against God’s will.

God has planned all of us even before conception.

That’s

my belief and what I have been taught. Through in-vitro fertilization and pre implantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was ensured a perfect match for Kate. She had to undergo

bone marrow aspiration and donate her white blood cell every time her sister got sick. Kate’s health got better; the tension begins when the girls are teens, until Kate’s kidneys started to fail. The mother schedules an organ transplant, Anna was expected to donate one of her kidneys but she petitioned instead for medical emancipation. She hires a lawyer to represent her in a suit against her mother; she demanded rights for her own body and not got through any invasive medical procedure without her approval. In My Sister’s Keeper, the adults – mother, father and doctor – convince themselves that it is morally licit to create a human being whose body would be available to serve the medical needs of another child. One needs not to be a religious believer to find this troubling. The Categorical Imperative of moral philosopher Immanuel Kant states clearly that we must always treat people as ends in themselves, not as means.

The issue was decided over legally and Anna was granted limited

termination of parental rights. It’s good to know that even at young age, Anna is aware she was in a situation that her rights has breached and as taken to her since she was a child. I think it’s impossible for me to do what Anna does if applied here in our country because there many factors that will prevent me from accomplishing it. But setting the factors aside I would do it for my sake because every human being has the right to live and live happy. “I don’t want to be careful, who want to live like that?” in this words that Anna uttered, I was then know that she really should get what she really wants and to the point that her sister Kate approves about it. Soon, after, it was learned that Kate actually compelled Anna to bring matter to court. She felt regretful that she had to consume the life of her family. She expressed: I don’t mind my disease killing me. But it’s killing my family too. I’m sorry, Jesse. I took all the attention when you were the one who needed it the most. Dad, Iknow I took your first love from you. I only hope that one day you get her back. Mom, you gave up everything for me – your work, your marriage, your entire life just to fight my battles for me every single day. I’m sorry you couldn’t win. To my baby sis, I’m sorry I let them hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t take care of you. It was supposed to be the other way around.

She no longer wanted to live. Her family had swallowed their objections and accepts her decision. She inevitably passed away. Her death was saddening but also liberating; her family grieved but later managed to move on. Sara worked again as a lawyer while Brian counseled troubled youths. Jesse, kate’s dyslexic brother, pursued arts in school. Ethically complex issues are typically marred by a conundrum of social, cultural and religious factors. The ethical and moral dilemma in the movie stem out from the decisions Kate’s parents had to make in order to save her life. It must be very difficult for them to deal with a loved one suffers because of an illness. The question lies on what extent sacrifices had to be made. Pressed on to act in the best interest of Kate and to do whatever it takes, Sara and Brian resorted to conceiving a donor child. What they failed to see is the emotional and psychological cargo Anna had to endure. Anna considered herself as spare parts created for Kate’s well-being. The more difficult burden she had to bear is questioning the reason of her existence. Saving her sister’s life defined who she is. From the stand point of utilitarianism, the motive of Kate’s parents justified creating a savior sibling. A life had to be sacrificed in order to save another. Coming off, however, from a deontological perspective, exploiting Kate steps on her right to a dignified life. Relying on principles-based bioethics the use of a designer baby as donor child infringes on the tenets of autonomy, non-maleficence and justice.