Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Abortion In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope …show more content…
Many would argue that a fetus is a potential person because it is has the potential to become what it is not yet. However, does a potential person have potential rights? An example was used: does a potential doctor have the rights of a licensed doctor? When one is describing potentiality, All he is really describing is what that thing is not. By declaring that a fetus is a potential person, one is also stating that a fetus is not a person. As one can see, this issue of the essence of a person and whether a fetus is a person is a very complicated one. This becomes seven more complicated if one takes into account the issue of rights. Now, the concept of human rights, that is to say, what American society dictates as human rights, conflicts heavily with itself. On one hand, we form a deep and heavy opinion on one’s right to life. On the other, we hold an equally strong opinion on one’s freedom to live that life as they please. American society by and large has a firm belief in an individuals right to live. Therefore, if one comes to the conclusion that a fetus actually is a person, then that fetus should receive the protection to it’s right to live, as much as you or I. This society also holds the firm belief in one’s right to the sovereignty of his or her own body, equal to that of one’s right to live. In this case, it is imperative that we understand what liberties we can and cannot take upon ourselves
Ethical justification of abortion is a controversial subject consisting of numerous significant theories that have been presented based on studies and researches. Basically, abortion refers to termination of pregnancy through removal of the undeveloped fetus. Seemingly, the act is highly condemned by majority sociologists and health practitioners due to violation of humanitarian ethics and morals. However, this particular perspective is orientated by the normative ethics system entailing utilitarianism versus deontology. Alternatively, this excerpt shall focus on analyzing the social altercations of abortion based on views and opinions presented by two influential individuals, namely Marquis and Steinbock. By identifying the main arguments and key elements apparent in the two arguments, the study is likely to derive rational insight concerning moral permissibility of abortion.
One of the first moral issues addressed by both sides of the abortion debate concerns a pregnant woman’s so-called natural “right” to make “reproductive choices.” (“The Rights of Pregnant Women”) Anti-abortion advocacy groups claim that “the only way to actually protect the mother’s rights will be by enforcing laws that secure her child’s right to life,” (“Argument 2”) whereas pro-abortion groups contend that these laws “create a dangerous precedent for wide-ranging government intrusion into the lives of all women.” (“The Rights”) With two fundamentally contrasting viewpoints at odds with each other, it is apparent that one of the core issues concurrent with abortion is a woman’s rights versus the rights of her unborn fetus.
Abortion has been an issue of heated debate in the United States for numerous years. Legislation has ruled it legal to perform an abortion on any gestational age of an embryo or fetus. Some people agree with the law and consider themselves pro-choice. Others are completely against abortion and are pro-life. In addition to these two groups is another group who support abortion in the first half of pregnancy, but believe abortion should be banned for the second half.
There are many common pregnancy alternatives, but most often the resulting decision is abortion because it is effortless. Abortion is endings a women’s pregnancy by removing or forcing a fetus or embryo from the mother’s womb before it is able to survive on its own. Not all abortions are purposely done some are spontaneous like when a women that has a miscarriage. Rather abortion is done purposely or naturally it is a worldwide complication as to it being wrong or right. Abortion is an ethical issue that will be analyzed according to a personal worldview and Christian worldview. Ethical thinking will be examined by value-based decisions that address abortion from the perspective of a Christian worldview and comparing it to a personal assumption by addressing ethical dilemma, core beliefs, resolution, evaluation, and comparison.
Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth and is morally wrong. An abortion results in the death of an embryo or a fetus. Abortion destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children and is illegal in many countries. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. Abortion is very simply wrong. Everyone is raised knowing the difference between right and wrong. Murder is wrong so why isn’t abortion? People argue that it is not murder since the fetus being destroyed is not living, breathing and moving. Why is it that if an infant is destroyed a month before the birth, there is no problem, but if
Each day throughout our world, medical professionals suction thousands of babies from their mothers’ wombs through a procedure called abortion. The law protects and provides consent to both the mother and the medical professionals for these procedures. However, the babies seemingly have no right to protection or life themselves because of the argument regarding when a fetus is determined be human and have life. Pro-life author, Sarah Terzo, in a LifeSiteNews.com article, relays the following testimony supporting this from a medical student upon witnessing his first abortion, “Rejected by their mothers and regarded as medical waste by their killers, society allows these babies to die silently, with no recognition or acknowledgment of their
The controversy within the biomedical ethics topic, abortion, has two main proponents. The first is the view against abortion, also known as pro-life. The other view is rooted upon the belief of being pro-choice, or basically for abortions. These two different views are like two mathematical principles, in that although these two views have many differences, they also have larger similarities in the background. For example, when pro-choice activists support abortions due to unwanted pregnancies, the activists are not rallying behind the idea of sexual incompetency (pregnancies due to lack of birth control). Rather, they are supporting the idea that women have the right to choose what to do with their own bodies. In order to understand
Abortion is a divisive problem in our time, and it is one that is difficult to solve as each side comes from very different initial premises. As Judith Jarvis Thomson points out, anti-abortionists rely on the premise that foetus’ are persons, and therefore are morally equivalent to human beings.1 Conversely, pro-choice advocates typically come from the premise that, as Mary Anne Warren suggests “foetuses are neither persons nor members of the moral community.” The key ethical schism, is around the issue of whether the foetus constitutes a person. This essay however will, as Judith Jarvis Thomson did, evaluate the problem on the basis of the assumption that a foetus does have equal moral status to a fully developed human. This creates a new dilemma: if a foetus is indeed equivalent to a person, is it ever right to end a person’s life?
Suppose after trying to get pregnant for many years, it is found that the baby has Down syndrome, and the doctors suggest to abort the fetus. Although with a successful career a balancing it will need to be maintained. However, it is uncomfortable to accept those
Abortion is the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus with the purpose to end a pregnancy or any other method for concluding a pregnancy. It has been a controversial subject across the world. There are many different methods of abortion varying from the morning-after pill that prevents the blastocyst from embedding in the uterine wall, to the common uterine or vacuum aspiration, which removes contents in uterus by suction tube (Mackinnon Pg. 95). Labels are given to developing fetuses throughout development. The newly fertilized egg is known as a zygote, when the ball of cells reaches the uterus about ten days after fertilization it is referred to as a blastocyst. In between the second and eight weeks of gestation the organism is
An ethical dilemma in the healthcare atmosphere would be Abortion. There is a variety of moral and ethical issues that could arise about unexpected pregnancy and abortion. Abortion has been a topic of debate for as long as the practice has existed. The abortion argument states whether it can be morally right to terminate a pregnancy before normal childbirth. Many people believe that abortion is wrong, no matter what the circumstance is. Some people will argue that abortion is right when the mother’s life is at risk. Others consider that there is a range of situations in which abortion is morally acceptable. Abortion has had an impact on society in many ways. “By the nineteenth century many nations passed laws banning abortion. It wasn’t until
One social issue that divides our nation unlike any other issue today, is that of the moral and legal status of a fetus, and the question of whether or not abortions is morally permissible. In this essay the focus will not be on the morality of abortion as a whole, but rather on whether it is right or wrong to draw a line for when it is okay or not okay to have an abortion. Personally I feel that no one has the ability or right to accurately draw a line of when a fetus becomes a person.
When faced with the choice of life or death, most people would choose to live. In fact, most would not want someone else making that decision for them. They would claim that as a living and independent entity it is solely their choice as to whether they continue to live or not. While this concept may seem fairly straightforward, there seems to be some great debate when it is applied to abortion. For many, they will maintain that the fetus has the right to life no matter the situation. There are some who will argue that abortion is morally permissible in specific circumstances and there are even those that will claim that abortion is always permissible. Why is there such a great divide? A major factor that plays a part in this is whether abortion involves more than one life. Because determining the beginning point of life is such a complex and emotional debate, there will be the same allowance in this paper as there was in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion”. As she eloquently put it “I propose then, that we grant that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception” (p. 721). This will allow for a look into the moral debate of abortion from a more grounded stage. As discussed early in Thomson’s paper, most of the debate on abortion rests on whether the fetus is alive or not. Whereas the focus should be on the many other aspects of pregnancies that may lead to a mother wanting an abortion.
Three online news articles, two of which are New Zealand-centric, on the subject of elective abortion were published on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of June.
About 56 million women worldwide are estimated to have an induced abortion each year Contrary to popular belief, regions with restrictive abortion laws do not have lower abortion rates than those with liberal law but women in restrictive settings are more likely to experience morbidity and mortality stemming from unsafe abortion The Ethical Dilemma I chose is Abortion there are a lot of people going through ethical dilemmas each day for me this one is close to my heart because I had to go through the same thing almost when I was only 15 I found out I was pregnant with my son and I was told when he is born he will have heart problems and I was also told that I was too young to have him and my aunt keep telling my mother that I was not smart ought to understand how to take care of a child in the case study I chose she had to make a tough decide when she found out she was pregnant with a child with down syndrome though a blood test and her doctor told her she should have an abortion but she felt unconformable about having an abortion so She seeks some