John Johnson

Cultural, Legal and Ethical Issues for the Health Science

The Battle For Women Against Cervical Cancer
April 13, 2014








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Women are faced with an ethical battle when faced with a diagnosis of cervical cancer. They are
faced with shame, guilt and the unrelenting question why me? There is a lot of talk of how to
protect yourself early to help prevent cancer in many ways, but is there enough positive research
and articles that help push the issue? When looking at the positive media, there isnt a lot of
hearing both sides of the story. A majority of cervical cancer cases occur between the ages of 20
and 50 years of age in women all across America. This paper will be discussing several ethical
issues that go hand-in-hand when dealing with, treating and early prevention of cervical cancer.
This shows how important it is to help women build a better quality of life, what research has
shown to help early prevention and understanding of how media all have an effect on women
who are diagnosed with cervical cancer.
In America, Cervical cancer use to be the biggest killer of women until the Pap smear, or
also known as the Papanicolaou test. This form of early prevention became widely acceptable in
the 1960s. The Pap smear was a tool that gynecologists have been able to use for early detection
of many types of diseases specific to women. In accordance to the American Cancer Society in
2012, 13,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed, and 4,000 lead ultimately to death
(American Cancer Society 2014). As the Pap smear became more popular and utilized
throughout the country, they saw a 70% decrease in the number of deaths in the past five
decades.
Cancer is never an easy diagnosis to comprehend. With new forms of technology and
forms of coping in our current society, women are able to help build up quality in life. Women
diagnosed have hundreds of options to help handle the stressed emotionally and physically when
facing any form of cancer. And continuously new technologies and studies are developed to
provide new treatment options that are less intrusive and are readily available to women who
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have been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Many of these treatments span from biopsies of the
lymph nodes, HPV vaccines, target therapy medication and hyperthermia treatments (burning of
cancerous cell therapy) (American Cancer Society 2014). Cancer is an extremely difficult form
of diagnosis to cope with, which has been discussed. But how does society play a role in
cervical cancer? If you look at how society plays a role in how our society functions, you can see
that sex is a very popular topic in media streams. Magazines, TV shows, commercials and
movies all portray sex as a normal form of life. But, this has a huge impact on women who are
diagnosed with cervical cancer. The cervix is an extremely personal part of a womens body.
The portrayal of sex is readily available for young girls, and boys. And early prevention of sex
or cervical cancer is rare among social media.
All of these methods are available to women through cancer foundations, hospitals or
insurance assistance. Given that any form of cancer is deadly to all those who are diagnosed,
recent medical studies have options that frown away from chemotherapy and radiation treatments
to help the quality of life of the patients who have different circumstances. There are a lot of
factors that play into the treatment plan of every case, given the invasive state of the cancer.
Some factors are; religious views of treatment options, financial situation and of course the
personal values each women holds. Now with these advancements in medical research, women
and men alike with many different types of cancer, they can live longer and become survivors.
There are a few points that help my observations about cancer and its effects of every living
being in the world, not just nationally.
The first point of interest will be on the topic of family values vs medical ethics. In the
case of a women, the importance of a support system is unquestioned. Family plays a large role
is coping with the diagnosis and to help make the right decision for treatment options. But not
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only is the family, a large portion of coping with and dealing with all of the mental aspect of
cervical cancer, it also plays a large role in early prevention.
The issue on early prevention and autonomy would be whether or not to get young
females, as young as thirteen years old receive the HPV vaccination. First, you can take a glance
at families that have to acknowledge that this is just an early prevention strategy. Studies from
the American Cancer Society state that: at the age of 13 to 17 girls should be given the three-
stage HPV shots in order to have the best results (American Cancer Society 2014). For
instance, some parents dont believe their daughters should be vaccinated so young for an act
they are not participating in. The vaccine itself creates unrest in parents that want to keep their
child protected from anything that could possibly be harmful in the present or future. But some
parents of minors are not ready to get them vaccinated because they don't want their children to
think it is okay to be sexually active.
Some would say this is a big misconception regarding the purpose of the vaccine. Yet, on
the other hand, medical studies show that at a young age, the vaccine can have longer effects and
higher rate of protection against several leading causes of cervical cancer. Another reason this
decision is hard for parents is because there isn't a lot of research out there that is provided to
comfort or put fear in parents, so making the decision comes down to how they view the media,
their religious affiliation, and the amount of research they are willing to attain.
A big issue that is having parents concerned is about the Papanicolaou test or the Pap
smear. Parents ultimately make the final decision regarding when their daughters should receive
their first Pap smear. Recent studies have shown that women can get their first Pap smear at the
age of 21 and before that is not necessary or required. But, its the opposite with the HPV
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vaccines, the younger you are able to get vaccinated the better off you will be. That could get
very confusing to some people and they could get the wrong idea.
Looking at the final decision, it should ultimately be in the parents best interest of their
childs well-being to protect them in any way possible. Looking at some of the research done by
the CDC, they support the HPV vaccine. They state: The HPV infections are responsible for
most types of cervical cancer. As with all approved vaccine, CDC and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) closely monitor the safety of HPV vaccines following licensure. Any
problems detected with these vaccines will be reported to health officials, health care providers,
and the public. Needed action will be taken to ensure the publics health and wellbeing (HPV
2014).
Being an adult you have full rights to your body, you are able to make decisions however
you seem fit. You can dye your hair crazy colors, get tattoos, but are young female adults aware
of the dangers of being exposed to a cancer? Young females are more likely to contract HPV
because that is around the time for college and experimentation and marriage. Women are the
only carrier of HPV that is effected long term. There are a few things that prevent young women
from be protected from cervical cancer. Religious beliefs could hinder a female from getting
vaccinated both underage, and as an adult, but religion is also a good this in young peoples lives
it just all depends on their beliefs whether or not they get the vaccine.
Another ethical issue would be surrounding the media and its portrayal of how sexual
activities are normal and acceptable. A lot of parents don't believe that any form of sexual
activities are appropriate, so they try to protect their children from premarital sex. The media
portrays this through movies, TV shows, commercials, magazines, and newspapers which makes
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it readily available for everyone to see and portrays it as an appropriate action.
This goes against a lot of ethical beliefs, and sex being the most common way to contract
HPV, and this makes up most of the cervical cancer patients. A perfect example of how media
portrays sex in a negative way would be looking at one of the worlds Top Selling Magazines
Cosmopolitan. The covers are as sexually revealing as the content inside. The scandalous
covers of half-naked, exposed actors and famous idols cause a lot of stress among parents, and
young and older adults across the country because they are forced to subject their children, and
themselves to sexual ideology and images (Cosmopolitan 2014).
Being diagnosed with cancer can quickly affect someones quality of life. Cervical
Cancer is a scary diagnosis because it is such an intimate part of a women's body. The sexual
quality of life is one of the biggest hits to a women's quality of life in women who have done
different types of treatment options which range from chemotherapy, radiation, biopsies, and
hyperthermia and target therapies (including medication). This is an ethical issue because the
quality of life is a priority to doctors and physicians, but with cancer patients it is hard to have a
high quality of life because they are faced with a lot of guilt, depression, and loss of sexual drive
and face a lot of anxiety. These attributes drive hard on someones quality of life at different
stages of their life. The cervix is such an intimate and personal part of their body that is under
the microscope. Low quality of life in women who have cervical cancer is partly due to media,
and its portrait of sexual activities in marketing, TV shows, and movies. Women no longer
become sexually interested because they are facing a diagnosis that affects their own sexual
drive.
In my conclusion I have given great detail and thought to a subject that, someone I care
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about has already endured. The impact of the Medias portrayal of sex, the amount of early
prevention available and the quality of life that women and young women face can impact the
ethical issues of my research findings. The constant ethical battles that women are faced with
are contributed by knowing how to protect themselves at a young age from cervical cancer. And
through my research I found that the best way to help prevent this is by education and HPV
vaccines. And that also creates challenges of parental views, lack of knowledge and religious
views. And also, knowing that women are facing a very mental battle for a better quality of life
while fighting the war against cervical cancer.















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Work Cited:
American Cancer Society Recommendation for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine Use to
Prevent Cervical Cancer and Pre-cancer. American Cancer Society, 10 Apr 2013. Web.
7 May 2014.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercause/othercarinogens/infectiousagents/hpvacs-
recommendations-for-hpv-vaccine-use.
"Cosmopolitan. September 2007 Cover." September 2007 Cover. N.P., 1 Sept. 2007. Web. 16
Apr. 2014. <http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/cosmopolitan/images/169338/title/september-
2007-cover-photo>.
HPV." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/hpv/vaccine.html).