•  12
    The Potential Value of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in Pediatric Bioethics Settings
    with Michael Da Silva, Laura Lundy, Kellie R. Lang, Irene Melamed, and Randi Zlotnik Shaul
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (3): 290-305. 2015.
    In this article, we examine how the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child can be useful in pediatric bioethics. Adopted in 1989, the CRC reflects norms that have been deliberated upon for a long period of time and endorsed by most nations. The United States is now the only country that has not ratified the CRC.1 International human rights law shares many key moral concepts with clinical pediatric bioethics, and the CRC provides a considered language common to many jurisdictions that can ass…Read more
  •  22
    When Rights Just Won’t Do: Ethical Considerations When Making Decisions for Severely Disabled Newborns
    with D. Micah Hester and Alissa Swota
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (3): 322-327. 2015.
    Children like Baby G, born with complex chronic medical conditions that compromise function in the long term, are an increasing presence in tertiary-level neonatal intensive care units. The parents and health-care providers of these children are faced with profoundly difficult decisions. Whether severe congenital anomalies with poor prognosis are diagnosed antenatally or are discovered at the time of birth, the issues are vexing, and the impact decisions will have on everyone in the family is pr…Read more
  •  15
    Actions Speak Louder Than Words: The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and U.S. Pediatric Bioethicists
    with Kellie R. Lang
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (3): 281-289. 2015.
    The explicit objective for the 2014 Symposium hosted by the University of North Florida, which serves as the basis for this collection of papers, was to explore the relationship and potential for mutual support between the disciplines of child rights and pediatric bioethics in advancing the health and well-being of children in the United States and around the world. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child served as the locus for this discussion. A significant question emerged in the Sympo…Read more
  •  19
    What Is a Parent to Do?: The Case of Baby G
    with Alissa Swota and D. Micah Hester
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (3): 320-321. 2015.
    Born at 24 weeks gestation, Baby G now lies in a neonatal intensive care unit two months post-birth. He has pulmonary hypoplasia, congenital scoliosis, and swallowing issues that will require placement of a feeding tube, and bowel dystonia that interferes with his ability to absorb feedings. Shortly after birth, he experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest and now has obvious neurological impairments. As a result of incomplete development of his lungs and severe chronic lung disease, he cannot breath…Read more
  •  34
    Advancing the Synergy Between Pediatric Bioethics and Child Rights
    with Alissa Swota and Jeffrey Goldhagen
    Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 58 (3): 247-251. 2015.
    The manuscripts in this issue of Perspectives in Biology and Medicine reflect the work of an international group of pediatric bioethicists and child rights advocates who convened in March 2014 to pursue several questions related to the intersection of pediatric bioethics and child rights. The prequel for the Symposium involved several years of dialogue between the editors of this volume—dialogue through which it became clear that there was much to be learned about our respective disciplines and …Read more