胚胎研究

BBC ‘s Casualty programme on Saturday evening gave viewers a vote as to which of two patients should benefit from a donation. But it failed to tell us that we would not need to make so many life-and-death decisions if we got to grip with the chronic organ shortage. Being pussyfooting around in its approach to dead bodies, the Government is giving a kicking to some of the most vulnerable in our society. One depressing consequence of this is that a significant number of those on the waiting list take off to foreign countries to purchase an organ from a living third-world donor, something that is forbidden in the United Kingdom. The poor have no option but to wait in vain.

The Human Tissue Authority’s position on the retention of body parts for medical research after a post-mortem examination is equally flawed. The new consent forms could have been drafted by some evil person seeking to stop the precious flow of human tissue into the pathological laboratory. The forms are so lengthy that doctors rarely have time to complete them and, even if they try, the wording is so graphic that relatives tend to leg it before signing. In consequence, the number of post mortems has fallen quickly.

The wider worry is that the moral shortsightedness evident in the Human Tissue Act seems to infect every facet of the contemporary debate on medical ethics. Take the timid approach to embryonic stem cell research. The United States, for example, refuses government funding to scientists who wish to carry out potentially ground-breaking research on the surplus embryos created by IVF treatment.

Senators profess to be worried that embryonic research fails to respect the dignity of “potential persons”. Rarely can such a vacuous concept have found its way into a debate claming to provide enlightenment. When is this “potential” supposed to kick in? In case you were wondering, these supposedly precious embryos are at the same stage of development as those that are routinely terminated by the Pill without anyone crying. Thankfully, the British Government has refused the position of the United States and operates one of the most liberal regimes in Europe, in which licences have been awarded to researchers to create embryos for medical research. It is possible that, in years to come, scientists will be able to grow organs in the lab and find cures for a range of debilitating diseases.

The fundamental problem with our approach to ethics is our inability to separate emotion from policy. The only factor that should enter our moral and legal deliberations is that of welfare, a concept that is meaningless when applied to entities that lack self-consciousness. Never forget that the research that we are so reluctant to conduct upon embryos and dead bodies is routinely carried out on living, pain-sensitive animals.

1. What has caused the chronic organ shortage?

[A] a decrease in donation rates. [B] inefficient governmental policy.

[C] illegal trade in human organs. [D] news media’s indifference.

2. The expression “pussyfooting around” (Line 3, Paragraph 1) might mean______.

[A] unfair [B] hesitant [C] secret [D] strict

3. The moral shortsightedness is revealed in the fact that _____.

[A] the government has stopped the experiment on human tissue

[B] the donation consent forms are difficult to understand

[C] the Human Tissues Act is an obstacle to important medical research

[D] embryonic research shows disregard for human life

4. To which of the following is the author most likely to agree?

[A] the rich and the poor are equal in the face of death. [B] more scientists are needed for the medical advancement.

[C] there is a double standard in medical ethics. [D] the dead deserve the same attention as the living.

5. The author is most critical of_____.

[A] the media [B] doctors [C] U. S. Legislators [D] the British government

答案:1.B 2.B 3.C 4.C 5.C

核心词汇和超纲词汇

(1)get to grips with认真处理

(2)chronic(a.)慢性的，长期的，延续很长的

(3)pussyfoot(v.)(about/around)谨慎的，顾虑重重的

(4)approach (n.) 方式、方法、态度，如The school has decided to adopt a different ~ to discipline(学校决定采取另外一种方式解决纪律问题)

(5)vulnerable(a.)易受攻击的，脆弱的，敏感的

(6)retention(n.)保留，保持;retain(v.)

(7)leg it逃跑

(8)purport(v.)自称，标榜;(n.)主要意思，大意，主旨

(9)kick in开始生效(或见效)

(10)regime(n.)统治方式，统治制度，政权，政体;组织方法，管理体制

(11)deliberation(n.)熟思，考虑，商议

全文翻译

英国广播公司的“急诊服务处”节目于周六晚上让电视观众投票，决定两个病人之中哪一个应该受益于器官捐赠。但是该节目没有告诉我们如果认真处理长期的器官缺乏问题，就没有必要做那么多生死抉择。政府对待尸体问题顾虑重重，给我们社会中最弱势的群体一个打击。它造成的一个令人沮丧的后果是等待名单上很大一部分人飞到国外从第三世界捐赠者那里购买活体器官，而这在英国是被禁止的。穷人除了徒然地等待之外别无选择。

人体组织局在验尸后保留身体部位用于医学研究的观点也同样有缺陷。新的捐赠同意书可能由某个怀有恶意、试图阻止人体组织运往病理化验所的人物起草。同意书如此冗长，以至于医生很少有时间读完它们，即便他们努力了，由于上面的措辞以图表表示，因此当事人的亲戚往往在签名之前逃跑了。结果验尸的数量骤然下降。

更广泛的忧虑是《人体组织法令》明显的道德短视似乎全面影响了当前的医学伦理争论。以小心翼翼的胚胎干细胞研究为例，美国政府拒绝为科学家提供基金，在由试管受精创造的剩余胚胎上进行具有潜在的突破性的研究。

一些参议员表示担心胚胎研究未能尊重“潜在的人”的尊严。这样一个空洞的概念很难设法进入声称要提供启示的争论之中。什么时候这种“潜在”才能生效呢?免得你感到奇怪，这些想象上宝贵的胚胎与那些例行公事地被避孕丸扼杀却没有任何人哭泣的的生命处于同样的发展阶段。令人感激的是，英国政府已经拒绝接受美国的立场并成立了一个欧洲最自由的体制，在这里，研究者被授权为医学研究制造胚胎。在未来的几年科学家很由可能能够在实验室中培育器官并找出一系列使人衰弱的疾病的治愈办法。

我们对待伦理的方法上存在的基本的问题是没有能力把情感与政策分开，这表现在尸体和胚胎的神话上。唯一应该进入我们道德和法律的慎重考虑之中的因素是幸福。幸福是一个概念，当它被运用到缺乏自我意识的实体上的时候是没有意义的。永远不要忘记我们如此不愿进行的胚胎和尸体的研究正在一些活生生的、有疼痛知觉的动物上照常实行。