Biomedical science is a double-edged sword. While providing advances in the treatment and quality of life for victims of disease, it also raises agonizing and thorny questions: Should scientists be allowed to pursue research on treatment of disease using fetal tissue from induced abortions? Should terminally ill patients be allowed to choose their own treatment, even if the safety and effectiveness of those treatments are unknown? Should American women be denied access to a nonsurgical abortifacient because some groups feel its use is immoral?We do have some important guidance, however, in the form of several recent decisions, arrived at through arduous give-and-take. In this book from the Institute of Medicine, six landmark cases offer insight into how we might confront future decisions more productively.