I think that The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a great lesson of ethics. It is an extraordinary story of a woman whose cells were used for research without her consent. While I was reading the synopsis of the book inside the front cover, I made several connections to my own life. I have several relatives who perished in the Holocaust. The Nazi's violated several people's bodies by conducting life threatening tests and using their biological samples for research. In memory of my ancestors I feel like it is my job to make sure that a tragedy like the Holocaust does not happen again. Although the story of Henrietta Lacks is not to the degree of the Holocaust it is the same concept that ethical laws of human rights were broken. This is why it is important for the public to know this story. It is our job as the human race to establish rules of morals and values so that the mistreatment of humans does not exist. Before reading the synopsis of this book I had never heard of the HeLa cells. I never had even imagined that a doctor would disregard his moral responsibility to his patient for research. The only way for our world to prosper is for the spread of knowledge. The public needs to be informed about controversial issues.
When Rebecca Skloot chose to write this story I think she purposely made it for a large audience. This is very difficult because as the author she has to make sure that not only medical experts comprehend her word choice and tone but also the general public. The story of Henrietta Lacks could potentially bring forward similar controversial issues that have not been exposed yet.
I think that while reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks I will have to think about my own ethical morals and values. Since I am only 18 years old I do not have a strong set of my own values yet. They are in the process of being developed through my life experiences. I will have to think about bioethics and what I would do if I was in the place of Henrietta Lack's family.
I found your analogy of TILOHL to the Holocaust to be creative and interesting; I would have never thought about Henrietta’s story in that manner. It really makes me think of how unethical it was to use Henrietta’s cells without her consent. I agree with you on the premise that it is incredibly important to establish rules regarding morality and ethicality in hopes that this issue will not arise again. I also agree that the public has a right to know about this pertinent issue that had been hidden for such a long time. The general public should be educated about the flaws of the people responsible for such an act of immorality, as to assume they will better understand why it was wrong and why it shouldn’t happen again in the future.
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