Inflicting Harm In Grey's Anatomy

In its most recent season, Grey’s Anatomy presented an episode in which a married couple, joyfully expecting a child, discovers that their baby has a condition known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) type II. OI is a congenital condition also known as the brittle bone disease, and as the name says it all, it means that the bones of the body experience severe fractures. Due to the severity of the fractures, fetuses diagnosed with OI type II die within a matter of weeks due to cardiac and respiratory complications. Their death is certain, and because of such, the couple in Grey’s Anatomy is now forced to make a decision about the fate of their child. The first option is to carry the baby to term and let it die on its own. The second option is to terminate the pregnancy. Deciding the next course …show more content…
But what exactly is harm and how is harm being done to the fetus? “Harm is agreed to be significant bodily harms and other setbacks to significant interests are instances of harm ( B&C, 152-153). Beachump and Childress focus on the physical side of harm such as the intending, causing and permitting death or the risk of death. Causing harm to the fetus would be done regardless of the treatment chosen. If aborted, since it is already too late into the pregnancy, the fetus would have to go through a vacuum abortion, which will, unfortunately, distort its limbs all at once. On the other hand, if the fetus is carried to term and allowed to die on its own, the constant effort of the baby trying to breath will cause pain in his bones, with every breath a bone will break. Both situations inflict a physical harm on the fetus, and both situations are intending, causing and permitting death, therefore, choosing to do the right thing is not always straightforward. For this reason, a physician cannot avoid causing some kind of harm to the fetus, making his obligations to the fetus prima