A Bioethicist Speaks Up About Silence

Respect for cultural diversity and inclusion is an ethical imperative. Bioethics as we know it has been considered as having a western bias – a primarily Anglo-American ethos. Changes in that declaration are and have been occurring, by bringing in a fresh look at the uniqueness of the person, the cultures, the heritage and more. Bioethics is becoming more fluid in its opinions of what is right and wrong by looking deeply into history and to whom that history belongs to. There is a movement towards having the “silence” heard.

Silence

The past is past – silence

The now is now- the silence is loud

The future is unknown.

So what now?

No need for a deep dive

One may drown.

Tread water, search

For a foothold.

And take a deep breath

And let it out.

And do it again.

The past is past – silence.

The now is now – the silence is loud.

The future is unknown.

Or is it?

The silence has been heard.

David Beyda, MD, is the Chair of the Department of Bioethics & Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

He sums his philosophy of care in the quote, "A Person is a Person No Matter What."