Safe havens for addicted mothers
CMAJ 1997;157:1201
Re: Bioethics for clinicians: 12. Ethical dilemmas that
arise in the care of pregnant women: rethinking "maternal–fetal
conflicts", by Elizabeth Flagler, Françoise Baylis and Sanda
Rodgers, CMAJ 1997;156:1729-32 [full text / résumé]
See response from: E. Flagler
I was surprised to learn from Dr. Flagler that I now have a bioethical obligation to ignore unborn babies who are being abused by their mothers. It does not really surprise me that the courts pretend these babies have no rights, because I have become used to a legal system that is out of touch with common sense. However, I would have presumed that a physician who is also an ethicist would stay in touch with reality.
All of my teachers at medical school and beyond have instilled in me the notion that pregnancy involves 2 patients. This has also been my intuitive learning as a husband and father. I am afraid that I will never be able to ignore the needs of babies as yet unborn, even if this renders me unethical.
Howard L. Bright, MD
Chilliwack, BC
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