Llibertat per decidir, a portal of the Bioethics and Law Observatory to facilitate citizensʼ decision-making on bioethics
Should egg donors be paid? What is a document on living wills? What should be the use of surplus embryos? Does autonomy in young men and women come into conflict with parentsʼ custody? These are some questions on ethical, legal and social implications of new technologies and biomedical problems analysed on the portal Llibertat per decidir (Freedom to decide), an initiative promoted by the Bioethics and Law Observatory (OBD), located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB-UB). The aim is to provide reliable information and arguments to encourage social debate and independent decision-making.
Should egg donors be paid? What is a document on living wills? What should be the use of surplus embryos? Does autonomy in young men and women come into conflict with parentsʼ custody? These are some questions on ethical, legal and social implications of new technologies and biomedical problems analysed on the portal Llibertat per decidir (Freedom to decide), an initiative promoted by the Bioethics and Law Observatory (OBD), located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB-UB). The aim is to provide reliable information and arguments to encourage social debate and independent decision-making.
The origin of life, the concept of death, to ability to make particular difficult decisions, or the Stateʼs role in health policies are good examples to illustrate the importance of the debate opened by bioethics, a subject area that studies and reflects on the problems emerged from biological and medical advances and their consequences for the society.
The new portal provides users with some informative documents on different issues, for instance assisted reproduction and research on reproduction techniques, conscientious objection in health care, sexual and reproductive health in adolescence, end-of-life decisions, etc. within a framework of respect for recognised human rights and from a flexible, multidisciplinary and secular approach.
The Bioethics and Law Observatory was created in 1995 and is led by Professor María Casado, who also coordinates the Consolidated Research Group Bioethics, Law and Society. The Observatory gathers a group of interdisciplinary experts and studies the ethical, social and legal implications of new biotechnology techniques from a scientific and multidisciplinary point of view. Among other initiatives, it publishes an issue of the Bioethics and Law Journal every four months. The journal encourages public debate in the field of bioethics applied to health, security, new technologies and environment, etc. The editorial board is composed by professors of Ethics, Law, Medicine, Anthropology and Genetics from different worldwide universities.