Abortion: A Controversial Biomedical Issue In The Community

Abortion is a highly debated biomedical issue in the community. While the theories or moral status lay out the rules of what and who have moral status, abortion is a problem because it can be explained and ruled in both ways (pro and con abortion) by multiple theories. For example, the theory of human properties states that all humans have properties and that the human life begins at fertilization. This theory suggests that once a human’s life begins, they have full moral rights and status. Abortion goes against this theory. This theory states that even an unborn child is protected by moral status, ultimately leading ethics to decide that abortion is wrong and goes against the theory of human properties. While this seems clear cut, there

The theory of sentience explains that beings with the consciousness in the form of feeling. If a being is able to feel pain or pleasure, they are protected by moral status according to this theory. There is evidence that has shown that even an unborn fetus can feel pain, therefore, they should be protected and abortions should not be performed. This theory is not always practical to implement though. There are many things in the world that do feel both pain and pleasure. Most of these beings are not technically protected by moral status. For example, if the population was to protect all beings with sentience, people would not be able to eat meat. In order to obtain meat, an animal that has sentience would have to be killed, therefore not protected by moral status. This is not the case in our community as meat is commonly eaten in order to sustain the lives of many people. Therefore, even though the act of abortion goes against this moral theory, the theory itself is not as practical as one may think it is. Currently when abortions take place, there are laws that state that medications medication to reduce pain must be given to the fetus (if they are more than 22 weeks of gestational age). This act therefore could then satisfy the theory of sentience for abortions, as the fetus will technically not be able to feel any more pain due to the drugs that are

If a fetus is ultimately causing harm and could lead to complications including death to the mother of the fetus, what is saying that the mother is not protected by moral status any more than the unborn child is? The mother is able to feel pain (has sentient properties), has moral agency, cognitive properties, and human properties. She ultimately fits and is protected by all of the theories of moral status. It can be seen as impractical if the mother is not allowed an abortion in order to save her own life for the life of an unborn fetus that technically does not meet the requirements of many of the theories of moral status, and therefore is not as protected as the mother. Overall, abortion is a highly debatable topic and can be seen as right or wrong for many reasons. Depending on the situation there are many ethical arguments that can be made for the rights of the fetus or even for taking away rights of the