Ethical Dilemmas in Women’s Health in Under-Resourced Settings

Ethical decision making in women’s health presents a series of unique challenges that are exacerbated considerably in under-resourced settings. Severe constraints on both autonomy and resources highlight limitations of principle-based ethics for addressing ethical dilemmas. Other useful ethical “tools” are considered in the context of 2 cases that emphasize the challenges to ethical decision making in under-resourced settings. The cases confront traditional notions of patient autonomy, highlight pervasive issues with regard to allocation of resources, and demonstrate the difficulties encountered in the careful application of medical ethics.