Bioética infantil: principios, cuestiones y problemas

Abstract

Resumen: Partiendo de la bioética materialista, desarrollada por el filósofo español Gustavo Bueno, y realizando una revisión actualizada de la bibliografía existente, se presentan los principios de la bioética infantil, una clasificación de las cuestiones que se plantean en este ámbito de conocimiento, así como los principales problemas que se suscitan al incorporar al niño como sujeto del quehacer bioético. La finalidad del presente trabajo es mostrar cómo, a partir del estatus del niño, la bioética infantil presenta características irreductibles a la forma de enfocar las cuestiones y problemas que se originan en la bioética estándar, que tiene como referencia al sujeto autónomo adulto.Palabras clave: bioética infantil, ética, moral, derecho, persona Children's bioethics: principles, issues and problems Abstract: From materialistic bioethics developed by the Spanish philosopher Gustavo Bueno and performing an updated review of the existing literature, I present the principles of bioethics child, a classification of issues that arise in this area of knowledge as well as the main problems that arise when incorporating the child as a subject of the bioethical issues. The purpose of this paper is to show how from the status of the child, the children's Bioethics is irreducible to the matters dealt with by the standard bioethics, which it takes like reference to the adult subject. Key words: children's bioethics, ethics, moral, law, person Bioética infantil: princípios, questões e problemasResumo: Com base na Bioética materialista desenvolvida pelo filósofo espanhol Gustavo Bueno e realizando uma revisão atualizada da literatura existente, são apresentados os princípios da Bioética Infantil, uma classificação das questões que surgem neste campo de conhecimento, bem como os principais problemas que surgem ao incorporar a criança como um sujeito do trabalho bioético. A finalidade deste presente trabalho é mostrar como a partir do status da criança, a Bioética infantil apresenta características irredutíveis a uma forma de focar as questões e problemas que surgem na bioética padrão, que tem como referência o sujeito autónomo adulto.

Panorama sobre la bioética infantil en Iberoamérica

“…Thus, we can say that this issue, the conflict between (bio) ethical, (bio) moral or (bio) political, underlies and emerges in numerous current bioethical discussions, such as the debates between a bioethics based on the autonomy of the person, even if the person is a minor or those approaches that justify paternalistic practices on the part of parents and professionals 30 . Indeed, there are authors and professionals in favor of prioritising a (bio) ethical point of view (in the restricted sense that we are pointing out here) which manifests itself in an attitude of promotion and respect for the "autonomous" decisions of the "mature minor" considered in his or her abstract individuality 6 . From this approach it is considered that, just as it happens with the adult person, the informed consent of the minor would constitute the maximum expression and effectuation of his or her autonomy.…”

“…In the following table, a criterion of classification of the subjects susceptible to be addressed by children's bioethics in the Ibero-American space is tested, taking into account, on the one hand, the anthropological space constituted by the personal agents involved in the bioethical issues, and on the other hand, the types of social norms involved. Although it would not fail to recognise the ambiguity that exists when classifying some of the topics in one type of social norm or another 6 .…”

“…Thus, these problems would have to do fundamentally with the conflicts between the (bio) ethical norms among themselves and between the (bio) ethical and (bio) moral norms, as well as the attempt of the legal and (bio) political norms to channel and resolve (as far as possible) the conflicts between ethical norms and moral norms as well as harmonise (also as far as possible) the conflicts between different moral systems existing in society. This in turn can generate new conflicts and dilemmas between the political norms themselves on the one hand and ethical and moral standards on the other 2,3,6 .…”

“…From what we have been calling attention about the bioethical discipline (in a broad sense) as understood by (bio) ethics and (bio) moral, as well as (bio) law or (bio) politics, it follows that "bioethics" "Is the norm of action that limits the power of the group in the name of personal" self-determination ", as the norm that sanctions the authority of the group or community, by which relatives, tutors or health and social care professionals participate in the important decisions that affect the minor 6 . An action that qualifies as paternalistic may constitute an example of maleficence when, effectively, it harms the self-determination and the personal development of the minor, but it could also be considered as an example of beneficence when it favours the development and well-being of the minor, by guiding and channeling the minor's behaviour, and protecting and guaranteeing the minor's rights 34 .…”

“…This document is based on a previous work 6 where we discussed what we consider constitutive principles of children's bioethics and where we developed a classification system that allows us to place all the issues that concern children's bioethics. We also explained how from the status of the child, as an entity irreducible to earlier ontogenetic stages (zygote, embryo, foetus) or later stages (the adult person), children's bioethics presents characteristics which can not be reduced to the reflection and practice of standard bioethics, which takes as a reference precisely the adult autonomous subject 6 .…”