TY - JOUR

T1 - Saving or Subordinating Life?

T2 - Popular views in Israel and Germany of Donor Siblings Created through PGD

AU - Raz, Aviad

AU - Schües, Christina

AU - Wilhelm, Nadja

AU - Rehmann-Sutter , Christoph

PY - 2017/6/1

Y1 - 2017/6/1

N2 - To explore how cultural beliefs are reflected in different popular views of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for human leukocyte antigen match (popularly known as “savior siblings”), we compare the reception and interpretations, in Germany and Israel, of the novel/film My Sister’s Keeper. Qualitative analysis of reviews, commentaries and posts is used to classify and compare normative assessments of PGD for HLA and how they reproduce, negotiate or oppose the national policy and its underlying cultural and ethical premises. Four major themes emanated from the comparison: loss of self-determination and autonomy; loss of dignity through instrumentalization; eugenics and euthanasia; and saving life. In both countries, most commentaries represented a dominant position, with a few negotiated positions. We also highlight the decoding of a relatively less explored bioethical aspect of My Sister’s Keeper’s narrative, namely the meaning of euthanasia. We conclude by discussing how the findings relate to attempts of providing cultural explanations for the regulation of HLA-PGD.

AB - To explore how cultural beliefs are reflected in different popular views of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis for human leukocyte antigen match (popularly known as “savior siblings”), we compare the reception and interpretations, in Germany and Israel, of the novel/film My Sister’s Keeper. Qualitative analysis of reviews, commentaries and posts is used to classify and compare normative assessments of PGD for HLA and how they reproduce, negotiate or oppose the national policy and its underlying cultural and ethical premises. Four major themes emanated from the comparison: loss of self-determination and autonomy; loss of dignity through instrumentalization; eugenics and euthanasia; and saving life. In both countries, most commentaries represented a dominant position, with a few negotiated positions. We also highlight the decoding of a relatively less explored bioethical aspect of My Sister’s Keeper’s narrative, namely the meaning of euthanasia. We conclude by discussing how the findings relate to attempts of providing cultural explanations for the regulation of HLA-PGD.

KW - Philosophy

KW - Germany and Israel

KW - Media decoding

KW - Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis

KW - Sibling donors

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961786488&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10912-016-9388-2

DO - 10.1007/s10912-016-9388-2

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 27000646

VL - 38

SP - 191

EP - 207

JO - Journal of Medical Humanities

JF - Journal of Medical Humanities

SN - 1041-3545

IS - 2

ER -