title: Bioethics and international human rights.
abstract: Noting how the spread of medical technology is creating clashes with traditional values and within cultures, the author addresses the clash between Western rights-based incentives, as used by the United Nations to guarantee respect for life and dignity, and communitarian traditions. He proposes a mean between wholesale cultural relativism and international absolutism.
authors.affiliation: Medical Humanities Program, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Thomasma
mesh_terms: D026688:Bioethical Issues; D001675:Bioethics; D003142:Communication; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003469:Culture; D033041:Embryo Research; D028781:Ethical Relativism; D005610:Freedom; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D038622:Internationality; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010684:Philosophy; D033302:Postmodernism; D012935:Social Justice; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012945:Social Values; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement