Bioethics and Defining Death: The Theresa Ann Campo Case

Vocabulary flashcards covering key ethical concepts, legal principles, and medical definitions surrounding the 1992 Theresa Ann Campo case and the definition of death.

Death (Merriam-Webster definition)

The permanent end of all life functions and vital activities in an organism.

Anencephaly

A fatal birth condition where an infant is born without major portions of the brain.

Theresa Ann Campo

An infant born in 1992 with anencephaly whose parents sought to donate her organs, sparking widespread ethical and legal debate regarding the criteria for declaring death.

Brainstem

The remaining portion of the brain present in Theresa Ann Campo that allowed biological functions like breathing and heartbeat to persist.

The Benefits Argument

An argument analyzed by James Rachels asserting that if we can benefit someone without causing harm to someone else, we ought to do so.

Beneficence

The ethical principle that directs individuals to promote the well-being and good of others, provide benefits, and limit suffering.

Autonomy (Merriam-Webster definition)

The quality or state of being self-governing, independent, and free to make one's own choices.

Dead Donor Rule

The medical standard, as defined by the National Institutes of Health, requiring that a patient must be declared dead before doctors can remove vital organs for transplantation.

Non-Maleficence

The fundamental ethical and medical obligation to do no harm to a patient.

Utilitarianism (Mill)

An ethical framework holding that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.