Principles of Bioethics
There are four principles of bioethics; autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence (McCormick, 2018). Autonomy states that with proper education and information, all people should be able to make personal decisions without being influenced or coerced. Second, justice states that all people should have equal opportunities. Healthcare services and research should not be biased in terms of sex, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Third, the principle of non-maleficence protects people from intentional harm or injury through negligence. In non-maleficence, all procedures should be comprehensively analyzed for negative effects before being performed on patients. Fourth, the principle of beneficence states that all procedures should be done with the intention of benefiting the patient. Medical professionals accomplish this by maintaining their skills and knowledge, continually updating them, and considering patient circumstances during treatment.
I would rank autonomy as the most important of the four principles as it caters fully to the patient’s needs. If a patient receives the care they request fully, then all the other principles have also been adhered to. The second most important principle is justice. Similar to autonomy, by ensuring justice while taking care of patients, aspects of the last two principles will also be taken care of. The third principle is beneficence and lastly non-maleficence.
In the Christian context, the biblical narrative describes all human beings as equal and requires protection of the needy in society. Human beings are also to strive and do good to live according to God’s will. This means not harming other human beings and loving them as much as they love God. Based on this information, the order of bioethics principles to Christians is justice, followed by beneficence, non-maleficence, and lastly autonomy.
Reference
McCormick, T. (2018). The place of principles in bioethics. Washington Edu.