How Might Health Care Think About the Ethics of Human Extinction?

Abstract

Is there an important ethical difference between a global catastrophe that causes human extinction and one that does not? This commentary on a case introduces 3 approaches-equivalence, further-loss, and pro-extinctionist-in responding to this question. In particular, focus is placed on equivalence and further-loss views' implications for how clinicians, health professions, and health care organizations orient themselves ethically towards managing the risk of extinction.