Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Factors Influencing Emergency Contraception Use In Indigent Populations, Melissa Arnold, April Bonifaz, Kasandra Chambers, Amy Roy, Ashley Scherreik, Kurtis Schultz, Miriam Ansong, Phillip L. Thornton, Tracy Frame

Excerpts in Pharmacy Research Journal

Introduction: Indigent women are disproportionately affected by unwanted, unplanned pregnancies. Studies previously identified lack of knowledge about emergency contraception (EC) as a major deterrent from use. This study was performed to address three potential barriers to the use of EC in indigent populations: culture and religion, patient education, and cost. For the entirety of this study, EC refers to levonorgestrel (LNG).

Objectives: To determine the impact of culture and religion, patient education, and cost on EC use in the indigent population.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional observational study to explore and investigate relationships between indigent populations and the …

Protein Analysis Of Human Lacrimal Fluid In Varying Age Groups, Jayson M. Brewin, Daniel C. James, Neil Klinger, Jenna G. Lawhead, Nathaniel J. Luce, Amy Wuobio, Lindsay Florkey, Rocco J. Rotello

Excerpts in Pharmacy Research Journal

Purpose: The objective of this research project was to identify proteins secreted from human lacrimal fluids onto the extra-ocular surface of the eye that could be later used to predict eye health, disease, and age-related changes. The identification of specific lacrimal proteins in relative quantities and patterns in younger versus older patients may reflect both ocular and extra-ocular disease states.

Methods: This observational study collected samples of lacrimal fluid from 20 subjects between the ages of 18 and 25 years and 20 subjects over the age of 50 years with the use of Schirmer strips. The protein composition of these …

Welcome To The Excerpts In Pharmacy Research Journal, Miriam Ansong, Melissa J. Beck, Ginger Cameron, Rocco Rotello

Excerpts in Pharmacy Research Journal

The editorial board at Cedarville University School of Pharmacy welcomes you to the inaugural issue of the Excerpts in Pharmacy Research Journal (ISSN 2374-4693).

An Ethical Framework For End-Of-Life Discussions, Mark E. Lones

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

The primary goal of medical care is to assist patients to address medical issues which may threaten their health in order to preserve and restore the quality of the patients’ life. However, when a patient’s prognosis for meaningful survival is poor, there is a change in focus from restorative care to palliative care. The transition from “cure to comfort” is one of the most challenging and important medical care decisions the patient and family may encounter. The purpose of this article is to help give patients, families and care-givers an ethical framework to effectively discuss treatment options, values, and preferences …

The Abortion Decision: What About Dad?, Erica C. Graham

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

The modern utilitarian abortion debate focuses on how women are affected by abortion but has neglected the utilitarian concerns of men. Abortion is currently justified based on ethical claims that apply to both men and women equally. These ethical claims include empowerment in reproductive decisions, not desiring to become a parent, socioeconomic concerns, moral responsibility over children, pregnancy resulting from coercion, and autonomy. This paper reveals the equivalent ethical claims of men and women to these claims and argues for men having a legal say in deciding whether or not to abort.

A Call To Forward-Thinking Bioethics, Heather G. Kuruvilla

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

It is said that hindsight is always 20/20. However, a reasoned approach to practical bioethics requires an awareness of developing technologies and their potential applications to clinical practice.

Welcome To Bioethics In Faith And Practice, Dennis M. Sullivan

Bioethics in Faith and Practice

Welcome to Bioethics in Faith and Practice! Whether you are a healthcare professional, an academic, a member of the clergy, a student, or simply someone interested in these topics, we are glad you are here. This new enterprise is meant to bridge the gap between theory and practice, where moral philosophy and Christian faith are brought to bear on the everyday practice of medicine. It is important to understand why this new journal exists.

He Started The Whole World Singing A Song, Brian R. Cates

Musical Offerings

Throughout history, music has moved people in powerful ways, so much so that, at times, it leaves them speechless. They realize that it is a song, full of notes and rhythms, yet at the same time, it makes them become profoundly aware that there is something more, humming just below the surface. My presentation seeks to enter into this music moment by asking why these types of moments even occur. Does music speak or communicate? If so, does it communicate something meaningful and significant? What is the mechanism by which music conveys this meaning? How can this meaning be …

Euthyphro’S Dilemma And Divine Command Ethics, Charis Steffel

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

Euthyphro, one of the Greek philosopher Plato’s earliest dialogues (about 380 B.C.), presents a dilemma that has troubled philosophers and theologians for centuries. The quandary is provoked by an assertion Euthyphro makes about piety in conversation with Socrates. Euthyphro is planning to prosecute his father for an unintentional murder to avoid being associated with him. He hopes that this will help his standing with the gods. Socrates shows great surprise at Euthyphro’s apparent knowledge of “religion and things pious and impious.” This leads to a discussion concerning the nature of piety, where Euthyphro proposes that whatever is pious and holy …

Pope Paul Vi And The Pill, Sara White

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

The Roman Catholic Church has strong moral rules opposing the use of oral contraceptives. The Church still holds the view that a “sexual union must always allow for the possibility of procreation” (Sullivan, 2006, p.1). Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical Humanae Vitae in 1968, stated that that the use of contraceptives was a sin against God. In this paper, I will present the views of Pope Paul VI from this encyclical, then present arguments against his claim that using them violates God’s law.

Abortion And The Link To Breast Cancer, Jennifer Heiden

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

“It is only reasonable to conclude, from all extant evidence, that induced abortion is indeed a risk factor for breast cancer, despite the strong and pervasive bias in the recent literature in the direction of viewing abortion as safe for women.” So states Joel Brind, in a landmark review of the evidence for the abortion - breast cancer (ABC) link (2005, p. 110). Over the last forty years, this issue has been an intriguing topic of research, for both scientific and ideological reasons. But what can we conclude from the published studies currently available? According to a comprehensive meta-analysis by …

If Kevorkian Could Meet Hippocrates, Scott Van Dyke

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

No abstract provided.

The Pro-Child Movement: Adopting A Compassionate Strategy, Jessica Seman

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

In vitro fertilization (IVF) has become the most common assisted reproductive technique in the United States, accounting for 48,000 births in one recent year alone. This has also given birth to a silent generation of over 500,000 human embryos, waiting in cryopreservation for their chance at birth (Grabill, 2006). For the Christian who believes that conception marks the beginning of human life, the fact of half a million frozen persons creates an ethical challenge of enormous proportion. Besides the obvious solution of not contributing to the problem (by freezing or discarding one’s own embryos), embryo adoption is often presented as …

Roe V. House: A Dialogue On Abortion, Katie Condit

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

No abstract provided.

Substance, Nature, And Human Personhood, John Wildman

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

What is a person? The answer to this foundational question may seem intuitive at the first glance. Many would respond, without much thought, that a person is a human being. However, proponents of empirical functionalist philosophy contend that personhood is based on the ability to perform certain actions in actual, not potential, form. They would therefore claim that some members of species homo sapiens may not actually be persons (Singer, 1985). To understand when personhood begins, it is first necessary to understand what a person is. This paper will apply the Aristotelian concepts of substance and nature to define person, …

Embryo Adoption: An Opportunity For Life, Carla Gaines

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

The world began a new revolution during the second half of the twentieth century. This revolution centered not on industry, but on biotechnology. Researchers unlocked the mysteries of procreation and genetics. The promise of science seduced common sense about the value of human life. Postmodern pluralism embraced the modernist idea of utopia through technology at the cost of the helpless.

Yet civilization is no closer to utopia than it was 50 years ago. Instead, we debate a whole host of new ethical dilemmas. Several debates focus on the creation, storage and eventual destiny of millions of human embryos. Hundreds of …

The Logic Of Birth Control: A Look At The Numbers, Lydia Wong

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

If personhood begins at the moment of conception, the failure of an embryo to implant results in the death of a person. Therefore, many in the pro-life community worry about the ethics of using oral contraceptives, if such hormonal birth control actually interferes with implantation (a so-called “abortifacient” effect). Obviously killing is wrong, and death should be avoided. However, even if contraceptives occasionally prevent implantation, a very good case can still be made in favor of their use. This paper seeks to show how contraceptives, even if they cause implantation failure, can be used with a clear conscience.

Life is …

Human Personhood From A Kantian Perspective, Jennifer Nelson

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

What sets humans apart from all other creatures? If you were to approach a biological Homo sapiens with the question “what makes you human?” how would they respond? Do we have value simply as humans, or are we nothing more than what we offer the world? Philosophers have discussed these questions for centuries and it seems that there have been a few concrete conclusions. These conclusions depend on how one views ethical theory.

Ethical theory and personhood go hand-in-hand. Immanuel Kant, one of the greatest philosophers of the 18th Century, developed his moral philosophy in what is now known as …

An Internal Ethical Revolution, Hillary Jones

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

Despite legislation to protect individuals from slavery and forced prostitution, many continue treating people as property. The Fourteenth Amendment states that persons have the right to “life, liberty, and property,” and U.S. society has never regarded persons as property. Unfortunately, some ethics do not consider all human beings as persons. Personhood denotes being a member of the “moral community.” I base personhood on an ontological perspective, meaning that all human beings are human persons. I also believe that there is no such thing as a “potential person” or a “human non-person” regardless of disability, race, ethnicity, gender or any other …

Tubman Versus Hodgson: A Conversation About Abortion, Nicole Brewin

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

No abstract provided.

Gerasim's Compassion In Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilyich, David V. Urban

Resuscitating Paideia: Reading Literature for Wisdom

In this article on Gerasim, from Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, David Urban examines this character's example of compassion in the face of his master's terminal illness. Urban suggests that all humans would do well to follow Gerasim's example, especially in light of everyone's mortality.

A Biblical Approach To Cadaveric Organ Transplants, Erica Graham

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

Upon passing their driver’s license exam every American has the opportunity to become an organ donor. Organ donor status allows immediate retrieval of transplantable organs after death for transplantation into other patients in order to save their lives. Many citizens endorse this action because one donor can save multiple lives by donating viable organs postmortem. However, some people do not endorse organ transplants arguing that it violates the body and that being an organ donor results in a premature declaration of death.

The current standard for cadaveric transplantation is retrieval from heart beating donors. A heart beating donor is brain …

Charity As A Moral Duty, Erica Graham

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

A question many Americans frequently encounter is whether or not they should give money to aid developing countries. We have the opportunity, through a charity, to help fund efforts to feed, clothe, and employ people lacking one of these from no fault of their own. What is the moral duty in this case? Society views these donations as beyond one’s moral duty but Peter Singer argues that such giving is a moral duty. This paper will explore Singer’s argument regarding this case, ultimately agreeing with Singer that charity is a moral duty.

A Grounded Natural Law, Benjamin German

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

For many Evangelical thinkers, natural law is an untenable ethical framework. The very phrase makes some cringe. Many Evangelicals find it irreconcilable with their conception of the totalizing effect of sin upon the human will and intellect. In his article “Natural Law and a Nihilistic Culture,” Carl Henry illustrates this deep-rooted fear of many within the movement. However, in recent years, some evangelical thinkers are reconsidering natural law. While Henry enumerates valid concerns over possible abuses of natural law, he forfeits the common denominator by which Evangelicals can engage in helpful ethical debate with the secular world.

Virtue Ethics And Abortion, Jacob Countryman

CedarEthics: A Journal of Critical Thinking in Bioethics

Singer suggests that the argument of abortion has missed the point. He asserts that the debate should focus on if it is wrong to kill an innocent human being instead of arguing whether a fetus is or is not an innocent human being. The Pro-Choice arguments of when personhood begins are vague and, therefore, cannot provide a concrete moment of when personhood starts. Since reason can only go so far in its ability to determine ethics, this paper will explain that Singer also misses the point; rather, striving to be virtuous demonstrates that abortion is morally wrong.