Libertarian Bioethics

bioethics (and occasional miscellaneous) articles from an anarcholibertarian viewpoint in 700 words … or more or less
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  • Don Stacy

Bearder v. Minnesota May 23, 2015

case summary of Bearder v. Minnesota for my law & bioethics graduate school course

By Don Stacy Vote0 0

What It Feels Like to Be an Anarcholibertarian May 2, 2015

On December 16, 2013, STR graciously published an article I penned entitled "What It Feels Like to Be an Anarcholibertarian".

By Don Stacy Vote3 5

The Varying Disorders of Consciousness of Non-Anarcholibertarians Sep 21, 2014

On September 17, 2013 I attended a lunch lecture hosted by the Division of Medical Humanism & Ethics and the University of Louisville Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the Kornhauser Library Auditorium on the campus of the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

By Don Stacy Vote0 2

Why We Need Libertarian Journalists Sep 12, 2014

On December 23, 2013, STR graciously published an article I penned entitled "Why We Need Libertarian Journalists".

By Don Stacy Vote3 2

Oncology Drug Bioethics Sep 8, 2014

A September 28, 2013 www.cnn.com article entitled "In Cancer Drug Battle, Both Sides Appeal to Ethics" presented the case of an ovarian cancer patient who wanted to take an experimental drug — BMN 673 — that the relevant pharmaceutical company, BioMarin, declined to donate.

By Don Stacy Vote0 0

Enchanted Ebola Elixir Aug 28, 2014

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently permitted an American corporation to donate an experimental medication to extremely unfortunate people — two American foreign aid workers and one Spanish missionary priest followed by three Liberian health care workers — who contracted Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) while caring for EVD patients in West Africa.

By Don Stacy Vote1 0

Another Statist Unethical Human Experiment Aug 11, 2014

The American State has a long history of designing, funding, and/or conducting unethical medical experiments on unsuspecting humans. I briefly documented this sordid history in an article entitled “Got Atrocities?”, which was published on September 17, 2013 at the Strike the Root website. No single article reviewing American State-related unethical human experimentation can ever be considered the final work, however, for information concerning previously unknown studies periodically leaks into the public domain.

By Don Stacy Vote3 0

Evidence of Academic Anti-Libertarian Bias? Jul 28, 2014

I recently applied to a prestigious graduate school offering an online Graduate Certificate in Clinical Bioethics program. Alas, my application was speedily rejected. I then applied to a second esteemed graduate school, which rapidly accepted my application. The primary difference between the two applications was merely the emphasis of the personal statements, for the rejected application disclosed my anarcholibertarian political philosophy, whereas the accepted application strategically did not.

By Don Stacy Vote8 3

About Justina Pelletier Jul 19, 2014

Occasionally a bioethics controversy acquires national and international fame/infamy. The emergence of such a spectacle is commonly described as “viral”, primarily to signify that the commentator has no clue as to why and how and when the current craze became the current craze. My early pick for the 2014 bioethics case du jour is the odyssey of Justina Pelletier.

By Don Stacy Vote2 0

How to Increase the Number of Libertarians Jun 30, 2014

Step 1. Perform an unexpected act of humanity for a non-libertarian. Step 2. When the person thanks you, smile, shrug, and state, “I’m a libertarian.” Step 3. Repeat daily.

By Don Stacy Vote8 2

On the Rights of Children Jun 13, 2014

Children’s rights and the corresponding parental obligations are exceedingly controversial in the libertarian community. Why? The fundamental reason is the hostility to positive rights exhibited by nearly all libertarian theorists.

By Don Stacy Vote2 6

On After-Birth Abortion May 25, 2014

Possibly the most controversial bioethics article of the 21st century was published online at the Journal of Medical Ethics website on February 23, 2012. The authors were Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva, ethicists associated with the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. "After-birth Abortion: Why Should the Baby Live?" was the provocative title of their paper.

By Don Stacy Vote7 0

Nonhuman Rights Project May 18, 2014

The legal strategy inherent in the recent New York State lawsuits seeking to extend the concept of legal “personhood” to chimpanzees, filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project (a non-profit United States animal rights group), is of interest to American society at large and libertarians in particular because it necessarily operates on the unconventional recognition that common law is fundamentally and pragmatically superior to statutory law if one seeks justice for rights-bearing beings, irrespective if one resides in a statist OR a stateless society.

By Don Stacy Vote2 2

A Brief Analysis of the Tdap Vaccine May 11, 2014

What are the right questions to ask about any vaccine?

By Don Stacy Vote3 4

Abortion May 7, 2014

Abortion is a controversial subject. The key question in the abortion debate for a libertarian is the following: When does a rights-bearing human emerge?

By Don Stacy Vote2 4

Pregnant Brain-Dead Bioethics May 3, 2014

The events surrounding the death of Marlise Munoz, a 33-year-old Texas woman who was pronounced brain-dead while she was 14 weeks pregnant, elicited profound questions for bioethicists in general and libertarian bioethicists in particular. These queries explored the nature of scarce resources, ownership, and State intervention. The following commentary shall analyze the Munoz tragedy from a libertarian point of view.

By Don Stacy Vote0 2

ASCO v. Liberty Apr 29, 2014

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), an oncology organization comprised of more than thirty thousand professionals worldwide, purports to advocate for policies that facilitate access to high-quality care for all cancer patients. In Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs v. Andrew C. Von Eschenbach, however, ASCO offered intellectual backing for an unjust American State directive that intentionally denies high-quality care to cancer patients. An August 08, 2007 ASCO Statement on Court Ruling Against Access to Unapproved Drugs — commenting on the penultimate judicial ruling in the case — contains ample evidence to illustrate this claim.

By Don Stacy Vote0 0

Brain-Dead Bioethics Apr 24, 2014

The tragic case of Jahi McMath, a thirteen-year-old California girl who was declared brain-dead three days after complications ensued from a tonsillectomy, has spawned a bevy of newspaper and internet articles penned by or including interviews of noted bioethicists. Examples include an essay by Art Caplan, head of the Division of Bioethics at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City; commentary by Robert Veatch, Professor of Medical Ethics at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; and an interview of John Di Camillo, Staff Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Washington,...

By Don Stacy Vote2 2

The Ratchet Effect in Cancer Research 2004-2013 Apr 19, 2014

Unfortunately, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is not the first American State intervention into the medical microeconomic order. The free exercise of oncology research, whether pursued in a laboratory or clinic, is a case in point. In fact, the evolution of American State regulation of oncology research over the past decade is an excellent example of the initial phase of what economist Robert Higgs named the “ratchet effect,” the process whereby State power balloons during a “crisis” but does not fully deflate to its original size after the “crisis” dissipates.

By Don Stacy Vote4 4

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