Shifting Morality

The recent movie based on the book My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult raises a number of moral questions. I can only address the book and the movie in general terms since I have neither read the book, nor seen the movie. My only information is from Wikipedia for the book and the movie trailers for the movie. The Wikipedia sight contains spoilers for the book, so don't go there unless you want to know the ending.

The morally disturbing part about this book and movie is that a child is created in a laboratory to provide body parts for a sickly older sibling. Not being a parent I don't know how I would react to the illness of my child, but to sacrifice a second child to save the first one is not right. At what point does the second child become a human being with all the legal rights to defend herself against parents wanting her body parts. (The point of the movie?) The parents in this movie (again only from what I have seen in the trailers) don't believe the child has individual rights at age 11. The parents never granted the second child any human dignity, she was created only to be a parts factory.

What does this movie say about our society when something like this is presented in a seemingly rational manner? Are the parents seen as heroes for wanting to save their first daughter, or villains for the inhumanity shown to the second daughter? Does the younger daughter have an obligation to 'save' the life of the older daughter? Are any of the moral questions addressed or does the movie only play on the emotional? Does the current society accept a moral code?

I think this book & the movie indicate how dehumanized society has become. Is there no value to life except for its utilitarian value?

If a person can serve a utilitarian purpose then they are valued in society, if a person serves no purpose, well too bad. Does our society exist to only serve the people that are valued? Does raw power determine value to society?

What does this say for the powerless in society; the poor, the elderly, the unborn, and the mentally ill? Do they have any inalienable rights granted by their creator (such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) or do they settle for only those rights that the government grants them? Are they dependent on the generousity of those with power?

If we are dependent on government granted rights, we must also be aware that those rights can change as the power base within government changes.

What do you think?