Utilitarian rule states that parents are rationally obliged to help their youngsters if it results to a greater good for the kid. The law stresses that the commitment is to the present and future well-being of the baby, not its immediate state (Driver 897). With this rule, parents would have to have a second child to provide a bone marrow donor for the first. In this case, parents are obligated because helping their first daughter by having a second daughter who is compatible with her DNA will give Anissa a greater good than not having one at all. The Utilitarian rule supports the Ayala case because it considers the interest of all possible future cases similar to this one (Smart 25). This means that Anissa would have the same chance to live with a second child as with a third or fourth child.
Conditions That Would Permit It
According to the utilitarian rule, the transplant would be possible under conditions such as the child’s parents being sound minds. This is necessary because, in a stable mental state, parents are coherent with the fact that their child might die. The other requirement is that guardians must be aware of the procedure and what they will do. The child’s well-being must be considered along with the child’s right to life, and not only side with one or the other (Smart 25). The most crucial circumstance is when the child’s bone marrow is compatible. For the operation to be possible, there needs to be compatibility of 65% or less (Driver 897). Nonetheless, donors must honestly complete the first year of their adult life before they are allowed to donate bone marrow. The parents must be aware of these conditions before deciding whether to go with them.
Additionally, it would be possible if there is no risk of losing the child in the future because multiple youngsters in a family would share the same genes. This consideration is crucial because the child with the most numerical probability to die is used in the calculation rather than including future generations. It would be fair if it were 50% or less (Smart 25). This means guardians must be in their right mind when considering destroying one life to save another.
Conditions That Would Forbid
According to the Utilitarian rule, the three conditions that would forbid having a new child as a donor are when it goes against the moral law, when the child’s well-being outweighs their rights, and when giving birth to the baby will give the first more pain (Driver 897). The second condition is when a child’s well-being outweighs their rights. When the operation goes against moral laws, it is impossible because in a case such as having a new baby who is a donor, the parents would be seen as either evil or inhumane.
The utilitarian rule states that the child will have to die if their well-being outweighs their rights. Hence it is not morally permissible for the child to stay alive and for parents to have another one with reverse vasectomy or IVF so that both children’s genes are compatible (Smart 25). This situation can result in new babies being born to replace the older ones in critical conditions or on deathbeds. The circumstance makes it seem like parents are using the newly born baby as an object (Driver 897). The other situation is when there is unfairness in the case, and the first kids can experience more pain. It would be unjust if the first child suffers from undergoing the surgical procedure, then recovers. This is because the parents might have given up on the younger baby to save the older one. This would make parents feel bad about what they had to do for the sake of one child.
Work Cited
Driver, Julia. Ethics: The fundamentals. Routledge. ISBN-13: 978-1405111546
Smart, J. J. C. “Utilitarianism and its applications.” New directions in Ethics. Routledge, 2020. 24-41.