Respect for autonomy
Bioethics calls for and upholds the respect for autonomy. It will not be a critical decision to deprive Mrs. Ansari of the respect for autonomy. The decision made needs to find a way of honoring Mrs. Ansari as an individual as well as a member of her family and the cultural surroundings. That is respect for autonomy should value her culture, family as well as her relationality.
One way is to accommodate the cultural expectations. For our case, it allows information to be communicated to Mr. Ansari the husband and possibly the mother. However, in as much as culture is an important part of an individual identity Mrs. Ansari herself might not be comfortable with the culture and the expectations of her family that might prevent her from knowing the diagnosis of her fetus.
The most appropriate way on the issue would be to ask her in the most appropriate cultural manner possible. To what extent she would wish to be involved concerning information sharing and decision-making to her situation. Probably another medical practitioner familiar with Afghan culture could be of great help in such a conversation.
The patent approach respect for the patient autonomy as well as still honoring her culture (Beauchamp, 2001). What Dr. Fox does is forcing Mrs. Ansari to be the individual decision maker that ultimately does not show respect for her autonomy. It will be best to have a sensitive culture conversation for Mrs. Ansari not just insisting on the individual interpretation. Dr. Fox also should have given the family time and space as a way of respecting her as well as recognizing the spiritual practices that they regarded as an important of healing and recovery.
References
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2001). Principles of biomedical ethics. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press]
