Ethics bulletin board
Before every bioethics debate, students work through the case in a preparation assignment. This board posts some of those answers so the class, families, and our John Carroll facilitator can see the thinking. Each answer sits under the question it answers.
Nothing here says who wrote it. No name, no initial, no period, no section. If an answer could point at a person, it does not go up.
Nothing you turn in appears here by itself. Mr. Mendoza reads the preparation assignments, picks a few answers, removes anything identifying, and posts them by hand.
Do not want your answer posted? Tell Mr. Mendoza. You do not have to give a reason, and it does not affect your grade. Already up and you changed your mind? It comes down.
1 of 11 weeks have responses posted. The program runs eleven weeks, starting Mon, Sep 21, 2026. See the full debate schedule.
Should ELISA testing be mandatory?
Should ELISA testing for Novel Flu Syndrome be mandatory?
Write the strongest single sentence for mandatory testing, then the strongest single sentence against it. You will argue one of these on the day, and you will not know which.
For: a test that finds people who feel fine but can still spread the disease is the only way to break a chain you cannot see. Against: handing over a sample of your blood is a decision about your own body, and that decision belongs to the person, not the state.
Posted anonymouslyWed, Aug 12, 2026Sample written by Mr. Mendoza, not student work
Name one condition that would flip your own view. If nothing would flip it, you are not arguing yet, you are just asserting.
I would flip if the test missed a large share of real cases. A mandate that produces a pile of wrong answers costs everyone their privacy and buys almost nothing back.
Posted anonymouslyWed, Aug 12, 2026Sample written by Mr. Mendoza, not student work
Decide who should carry the cost of a false positive: the person tested, the health system, or the employer who acts on it.
The health system should carry it. It ordered the test, it holds the result, and it is the only one of the three that can pay for a second test to check the first.
Posted anonymouslyWed, Aug 12, 2026Sample written by Mr. Mendoza, not student work
Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
Should we ban antibiotic use in livestock?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Should we limit antibiotic prescriptions?
Should we limit antibiotic prescriptions to preserve their effectiveness for future generations?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Euthanasia to reduce antibiotic use
Should terminally ill patients be offered medical aid in dying in order to decrease antibiotic use?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Is super hearing good for humanity?
Is super hearing, as offered by the Clarity Implant, a net positive for humanity?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Cochlear implants before the age of consent
Should children reach the age of consent before cochlear implants or other medical interventions are allowed?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Two videos: controlling genetics, and what gives life meaning
Can humans be trusted with control over genetics? And: extinction, or life without culture?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Should vaccination be mandatory?
Should vaccination be mandatory?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Prosecuting health misinformation
Should the government prosecute people for lying about vaccines or other health matters?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Should vaping be labeled unhealthy?
Should the National Institutes of Health label vaping unhealthy on the basis of this study?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Genetic Defect Prevention and the Vargo request
Is it ethical to grant the Vargo family their request?
No answers posted for this week yet. The week is on the schedule and this space is waiting for it. Answers go up after the debate, once Mr. Mendoza has read the preparation assignments.
Questions about the debates go to Mr. Mendoza. Curriculum questions go to Dr. Sharon Kaye, John Carroll University.
Bioethics day index