Case Study 1

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Case Study 1

• Presented by
• Estee Dahan
• Erin Horn
• Michelle Foster
• Jomel De Jesus
• Guadalupe Gallo
• Chelsa Christy

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Case Summary

• Conjoined twins, Mary and Jodie, were born on
  August 8, 2000 in Manchester.
• Parents lived in a strongly Roman Catholic
  community.
• The bodies of Mary and Jodie were fused at the
  base of their spines.
• The twins shared a bladder.
• Mary was the weaker twin and had no effective
  heart, her lungs never inflated, and she had only
  a primitive brain.

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Case Summary

• Jodie had normal brain function.
• If separated, Jodie would live and Mary would
  die.
• If they were not separated, both twins would die
  between 3 and 6 months old.

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Case Conclusion

• The parents refused to give consent to separate
  the twins due to their religious beliefs.
• August 25, the judge ruled in favor of the
  medical team and gave permission for the
  operation.
• The parents took their case to the Court of
  Appeal.
• On September 22, the Court of Appeal upheld the
  earlier High Court decision.

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Moral Question

• Does the possibility of disability mean that
  Jodies life is not worth saving or is less
  valuable than that of an able-bodied person?

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Thesis

• Through Kants theory of The Formula of the End
  in Itself, we will prove that Jodies life is
  worth saving, and she is as valuable as an
  able-bodied person.

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Immanuel Kant

• act so as to treat people always as ends in
  themselves, never as mere means. (Kant)
• Mary was using Jodie as a mere means by using her
  heart and lungs to keep her alive.

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Immanuel Kant

• Everyone, insofar as he or she is a rational
  being, is intrinsically valuable.
• Mary had a primitive brain.
• Jody had normal brain function.

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Argument

• Q Why shouldnt Marys life be saved if everyone
  is valuable in and of themselves?
• A Mary has a primitive brain, therefore she is
  not a rational being.

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Definitions

• Disability

• Able-bodied

• lack of adequate power, strength, or physical or
  mental ability incapacity.

• having a strong, healthy body physically fit
  Every able-bodied young man served in the armed
  forces.

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• By definition, arent most people disabled?

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Conclusion

• Jodies life is worth saving, regardless of
  possible disabilities, because she is valuable in
  and of herself.
• Jodies life is as valuable as an able-bodied
  person because she is a rational being.

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• Cast
• Estee Dahan Power Point Creator
• and Presenter
• Erin Horn Presenter
• Michelle Foster Group Thinker
• Jomel De Jesus Group Thinker
• Guadalupe Gallo Group Thinker
• Chelsa Christy Group Thinker