{"title":"Information, Access, and Stress: Ethical Insights From Parents' Views on Autonomy in Expanded Prenatal Testing.","authors":"Jackie Leach Scully, Jan Hodgson, Rosalind McDougall, Leila Thy Kint, Isabella Holmes, Kitty-Jean Laginha, Ainsley J Newson","doi":"10.1007/s11673-026-10568-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-026-10568-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study explores parents' perspectives on expanded genomic testing in pregnancy and its implications for reproductive autonomy. We conducted four workshops using dialogue group methodology and involving thirty-three Australian parents with recent experience of pregnancy. Participants used a fictional scenario involving prenatal testing to reflect on their own experiences and views. Four interconnected themes were identified: barriers to autonomous testing and choice, the need for guidance and support through the decision-making process, the impact of stress and social expectations on reproductive autonomy, and the importance of information to reproductive autonomy. Participants valued genomic information to help in decision-making and to give reassurance but struggled to comprehend the nature of the information that expanded testing could provide. They relied on trusted healthcare professionals to interpret the meaning of test results but recognized the reality of constraints on healthcare resources. Our findings show that reproductive autonomy in this context is both individual and relational and requires health systems that support values-based decision-making. In an era of expanding prenatal genomic testing, our study highlights the need for a framework for reproductive autonomy that goes beyond information provision, to provide the conditions necessary for genuinely autonomous decision-making.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148139651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Including the Missing Voice: Victoria's New Intersex Protection Scheme.","authors":"Anna Brown","doi":"10.1007/s11673-026-10587-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-026-10587-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"221-225"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148474117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethics at the Intersection of Intelligent Assistive Technology, Ageing, and the Home Environment: A Scoping Review.","authors":"Elisabeth Langmann, Hans-Jörg-Ehni","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10479-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10479-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intelligent assistive technology (IAT) is being developed to enable safe and autonomous ageing at home and is associated with supporting quality of life. These anticipated benefits must be balanced against potential unintended negative effects. This scoping review aims to identify and summarize the key ethical dimensions and frameworks discussed in the relevant scholarly literature. Furthermore, we examine whether the ethical dimensions identified can be derived from the four principles of bioethics, suggesting that, when properly specified, principlism could serve as a systematic framework for evaluating IAT. Thus, our review has two aims: identifying the ethical dimensions and frameworks currently discussed and investigating whether these frameworks can be structured according to the four principles or if additional principles are necessary. A systematic search across the databases PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Belit, and PhilPapers, plus a manual search identified 535 publications, from which twenty-three studies were included. The results show twenty-one heterogeneous ethical dimensions, with similar matters considered across different categories. The review shows that key expectations and promises of developing and using IAT in this context mostly relate to the possibility of safely ageing at home and reducing healthcare costs. While assigning these ethical dimensions to the four principles of bioethics, it became clear that although all aspects discussed could be subcategorized, some ethical concerns might lose visibility or be inadequately addressed. We, therefore, conclude that the four principles generally provide a sufficient basis for evaluating these technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"389-403"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13388638/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145234063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M Shankland, A Ferrand, I Ganache, M A Côté, M P Pomey
{"title":"The Ethical Foundations of Accompanying Patients: The Need for Institutionalization.","authors":"M Shankland, A Ferrand, I Ganache, M A Côté, M P Pomey","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10482-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10482-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The partnership approach is part of a broader shift in healthcare that seeks to empower patients in their own care. Accompanying patients (APs) extend the concept of peer support. They are experienced patients who engage directly and individually with new patients, enhancing the partnership model. However, the ethical foundations of this role and the ethical tensions arising from its integration are underexplored. To identify the key skills and values required by APs and the ethical tensions they experience, we conducted a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with nineteen APs between January and May 2021 in Québec, Canada. Interviews explored motivations, skills, values, and experiences in healthcare institutions. Thematic analysis was complemented by Tannahill's public health ethics framework to interpret the ethical tensions identified. The core values identified for this role were empathy, respect, and altruism. All participants agreed that experiential knowledge was paramount. APs identified independence from healthcare institutions as the key to connecting and developing a trusting relationship with patients. However, they also expressed a need to be part of the healthcare system to ensure the sustainability of their role. Our results show an ethical tension between the philosophical core of APs and their needs to pursue their functions. We conclude that independence and authenticity as an AP is not necessarily incompatible with institutionalization, professionalization, and remuneration. These can be achieved if AP programmes are aligned with the philosophy of patient partnership, structured with flexible criteria, and remain self-regulated.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"353-375"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13388418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145649665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Doctrine of the Mean and Doctor-Patient Relationship: Proposal for the Doctor-Seeking-the-Mean Model.","authors":"Atsushi Asai, Hua Xu, Motoki Ohnishi","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10476-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10476-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Our experience in day-to-day medical practice suggests that the nature of the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) is considerably influenced by the attitudes of the individual patient and doctor. The DPR will also be significantly influenced by the social environment, including the healthcare system in which it develops. In addition, cultural influences on the DPR and its overriding ethical principles cannot be ignored. Moreover, the DPR cannot escape the influence of various coincidences. We argue that it is preferable that a doctor-seeking-the-Mean model be practiced, whereby doctors do not treat their patients in a uniform, normative, and skilful manner but rather try to achieve the Mean in key aspects of the DPR-which is highly individualized, changeable over time, and subject to social trends and chance. For Confucius, the Mean is a virtue that enables one to respond flexibly to changing circumstances and realize one's goals without excess or deficiency; it is an attempt to fully understand all the diverse and conflicting views and positions before making the highest quality decision that best suits one's need to achieve the goals at any given moment. We believe that the doctor-seeking-the-Mean model can fully fulfil the role of a platform for realizing the goals of healthcare.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"341-352"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13388507/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145193852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"No Special Treatment for Healthcare : A Reply to Ameresekere.","authors":"Albert Didriksen","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10541-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10541-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"423-425"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147693137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethics under Fire: War, Rhetoric, and Moral Reasoning : Response to Lingis and Komesaroff and Abbasian.","authors":"Simon Lucas","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10545-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10545-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"427-429"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147678391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rethinking Patient Consent in AI-Enhanced Healthcare: A Teleological and Consequential Ethical Framework.","authors":"Mohammad Mohi Uddin","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10535-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10535-3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"409-412"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145606999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethics Versus War: Reply to Abbasian and Lucas.","authors":"Paul A Komesaroff","doi":"10.1007/s11673-026-10557-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-026-10557-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"431-433"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147870174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F McDonald, C Malatzky, D Sedgwick Fincher, L Elliott, K Purser
{"title":"Reconsidering Governance Models to Strengthen Rural Healthcare.","authors":"F McDonald, C Malatzky, D Sedgwick Fincher, L Elliott, K Purser","doi":"10.1007/s11673-025-10484-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11673-025-10484-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This paper argues for a re-balancing of decision-making power in health systems away from metrocentric and technocratic norms and a fundamental re-shaping towards democratic and participatory models of governance. These changes are understood as critical to the objective of improving healthcare access and delivery in regional, rural, and remote communities. In articulating this argument, we highlight the highly political nature of how we structure and govern healthcare delivery, which is imbued with value judgments. We critique currently dominant neo-liberal approaches to healthcare governance that frame the \"voices\" of local communities as optional inputs into the system, rather than active agents in decision-making processes. From health justice and spatial justice perspectives, public participation in governance may be an important factor to enable improved access to regional, rural, and remote health services and to promote community self-determination.</p>","PeriodicalId":50252,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Bioethical Inquiry","volume":" ","pages":"377-387"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13388343/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145349766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}