Can organs be harvested from an anencepalic foetus before its legal death?
(11) Reagan poses this problem in the context of an actual case and presents the discussion on the various pros and cons by the hospital ethics committee. At first thought it would appear that there should be no objection to the harvesting of organs from a foetus that stands no chance of meaningful survival. The ethics committee based its decision on the basis of the law as it stands and saw the issue as whether it was morally permissible to kill this foetus for organs. This paper and the one by Orentlicher that follows make required reading for all those dealing with malformations that make life meaningless. Is resuscitation of a brain- dead person justified? (12) A fifteen- year- old boy suffered an attack of status asthmaticus during which he suffered prolonged cerebral anoxia. All clinical and technological tests showed brain death. The boys mother refused to believe that her son was dead or that he would not recover and refused to consent to a do not resuscitate order. She reprima
