Conclusion: Some Final Thoughts

• Author: Maureen A. McTeer
• Pages: 131-132

Conclusion

Some

Final

Thoughts

11

through this book,

the

connecting theme

has

been

the

need

the

public debate

on

medical

and

scientific

technology that

will

both enhance

and

haunt

our

living

and

dying

in the

coming cen-

tury.

I

hope

this book will

be a

starting point

for the

many Canadians

who,

until

now, have

felt

these issues

too

distant

and new to

join

in

their discussion.

What

I

have tried

to do

with this book

is to set out in one

place

some

of the key

issues

we

will

be

asked

to

address

in the first

years

of

the new

millennium.

All of

these will

affect

most

of us in

some

way and

go to the

core

of how we

define ourselves

as

human beings.

The

deci-

sions

we

make

now

will

set the

course

for the

future

path

for the use

and

development

of

many

of the

technologies, research,

and

practices

covered

in

this book.

We

need

to

remember

that

this

will

happen

whether

or not we

participate.

But I

believe that

we

will have better

public

policy

— and

therefore better laws

— if we are all at the

tables

where these matters

are

discussed

and

decisions taken.

» 131

A

for us to create new and effective ways in