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Ethical dilemmas of abortion
Social problems regarding abortion
Social problems regarding abortion
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Susan is experiencing ethical dilemma. She wanted to get pregnant for years and now that she is pregnant, she is pregnant with a Down syndrome baby. She is facing a decision that she has to make, aborting the baby or not. If Susan delivers the baby, she will be taking care of a disabled child, which will take a whole lot of her time and takes a huge responsibility. Her friend, Richard, she consulted sees abortion as an advantage for her and the baby. His argument is that abortion will prevent the baby from suffering. He said that a human should increase happiness and decrease suffering in this world. As a caretaker Susan will have a huge responsibility. Ethical Dilemma Ethical dilemma is an uncomfortable situation and requires a choice. …show more content…
All human are created in God’s image and likeness and that very human deserves to live. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’…So God created man his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27) Abortion is not written in the Bible, it does not address abortion anywhere. “All human life is sacred and created by God” (What does the Bible say about abortion?, 2016) We are not here to end anyone’s life whether it is still an unborn child. “God saw killing a child in the womb as murder” (What does the Bible say about abortion?, 2016) All humans are equal in importance born and unborn. Since Susan is uncomfortable of abortion and tried to seek decisions and input from her friend, she might be a God-fearing person. Abortion might be against her moral values. Christians worldview will not tolerate abortion and will have the Down syndrome baby born in this world suffering or not because every human life deserves is created by God for a reason. Resolution In Jeremiah 1:5, God says “Before I formed you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This means that God created and formed Jeremiah for a purpose, to be a prophet. The best course of action for a Christian is to have the baby born disabled or not. Every human life is equally important and should be respected and protected.
Patrick Lee and Robert P. George’s, “The Wrong of Abortion” is a contentious composition that argues the choice of abortion is objectively unethical. Throughout their composition, Lee and George use credibility and reason to appeal the immorality of abortions. The use of these two methods of persuasion are effective and compels the reader to consider the ethical significance. Lee and George construct their argument by disputing different theories that would justify abortions. They challenge the ontological and evaluation theories of the fetus, as well as the unintentional killing theory. This article was obtained through Google, in the form of a PDF file that is associated with Iowa State University.
Judith Jarvis Thomson, a 20th century philosopher, offers her argument defending abortion in her paper, “A Defense of Abortion”. She states initially that the fetus has a right to life, although contrary to her argument, she uses it as a premise to develop her thoughts. In short, Thomson says that the fetus’s right to life does not outweigh the woman’s right to control her body. She forces readers to participate in a thought experiment as she gives an odd example about a violinist suffering from kidney failure. The violist is facing death and in order to prevent it, he needs your help. Because you are the only one with his blood type, you are the only hope for him. You have been kidnapped by the Society of Music lovers and, without your consent, hooked up to him and you are filtering his blood and keeping him alive. In order to save his life, you must remain connected to him and support him for nine whole months. Thomson then asks if it is morally wrong to disagree to remain connected to the violinist. It is quite noble to agree to save the man’s life but should his right to life automatically force you to sacrifice nine months of yours?
There are many factors that are taken into consideration when determining if abortion is morally permissible, or wrong including; sentience of the fetus, the fetuses right to life, the difference between adult human beings and fetuses, the autonomy of the pregnant woman, and the legality of abortion. Don Marquis argues that abortion is always morally wrong, excluding cases in which the woman is threatened by pregnancy, or abortion after rape, because fetuses have a valuable future. Mary Anne Warren contends that late term abortions are morally permissible because birth is the most significant event for a fetus, and a woman’s autonomy should never be suspended.
Thomson provides the example of being hooked up for nine months to provide dialysis to an ailing violinist to expose how a fetus’s right to life does not supersede a mother’s right to make medical decisions about her body (48-49). I find that this thought experiment especially helpful in understanding how even though a fetus does have a right to life, because the continuation of their life hinges on the consent of their mother to use her body, it falls to the mother to choose whether or not to allow the fetus to develop to term.
Roe v. Wade and Morality. Michael Pearce Pfeifer in "Abandoning Error: Self-Correction by the Supreme Court," states the impact of Roe v. Wade on morals. Seldom, if ever, has a single Supreme Court decision so decisively transformed American constitutional history or so altered the relationship between law and morals - both public and private. Roe v. Wade established within the Constitution a doctrine that has entirely legitimized what had previously been almost universally condemned: the practice of abortion on demand throughout the nine months of pregnancy.
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 to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
I believe that parents are not morally justified in having a child merely to provide life saving medical treatment to another child or family member, but that this does not mean that the creation of savior siblings is morally impermissible. By having a child solely to provide life saving medical treatment, you are treating this child merely as a means rather than an end to the individual child. By having the child solely as a means to save another, you are violating this savior sibling in that you are treating them as a source of spare parts that can be used by the sickly child in order to solely promote the prolonged life of the currently sick child. This view that having a child merely as a way to provide medical treatment does not consider the multitude of other avenues that this newborn child can take, and presupposes that the child will only be used for the single purpose of providing life saving medical treatment through use of stems cells or organ donation. What this view fails to consider is that these savior siblings are valued by families for so much more than just as a human bag of good cells and organs that can be used to save the life of the original child. Instead, these savior siblings can be valued as normal children themselves, in that they can be valued in the same way that any other child who is born is valued, yet at the same time they will also be able to provide life-saving treatment to their sibling. My view runs parallel to the view held by Claudia Mills who argues that it is acceptable to have a savior sibling, yet at the same time we can not have a child for purely instrumental motives, and instead should more so value the child for the intrinsic worth that they have. Mills presents her argument by puttin...
How would you feel if someone decided that you should never get a chance at life? That
The permissibility of abortion has been a crucial topic for debates for many years. People have yet to agree upon a stance on whether abortion is morally just. This country is divided into two groups, believers in a woman’s choice to have an abortion and those who stand for the fetus’s right to live. More commonly these stances are labeled as pro-choice and pro-life. The traditional argument for each side is based upon whether a fetus has a right to life. Complications occur because the qualifications of what gives something a right to life is not agreed upon. The pro-choice argument asserts that only people, not fetuses, have a right to life. The pro-life argument claims that fetuses are human beings and therefore they have a right to life. Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thomson, rejects this traditional reasoning because the right of the mother is not brought into consideration. Thomson prepares two theses to explain her reasoning for being pro-choice; “A right to life does not entail the right to use your body to stay alive” and “In the majority of cases it is not morally required that you carry a fetus to term.”
In examining religious opinions on abortion, one must find common ground on which to form a foundation of comparison. With most of the religions to date, that common ground lies on the argument of whether or not a fetus is an actual person. Some religions protest by saying a fetus isn't a conscious being -- therefore there is no loss in doing away with it. But for those religions that do believe there is a life -- or any spiritual being -- in a fetus, it is clearly a crime to have an abortion.
It’s a child, not a fetus Susan Schneider broadcasted her myopic and unbiblical views on abortion in a 1981 article for The New York Times. She made illogical claims about the value of a mother, regarding her individual rights, versus that of a child. Also, she said rape justifies abortion because no one would want to love and raise a child from that situation. Her statements say people should abort babies with birth defects, however, she does not take the further implications of that practice into account. Babies carry the image of God, so no one, not even the mother, has the right to kill a baby that God brought into existence.
At the same time, what is the best action we can take about unborn Down Syndrom babies? Ethical Dilemma My friend Maria and her husband William wanted a baby of a long time. But it was unlucky. Finally, God heard their prayers; Maria finds out that she is pregnant.
I think if we don't even give this unborn child a chance to make a change or right decisions in life, that's unfair to them, it's already bad enough in the world.
Abortion is an extremely controversial issue and one that is continually on the forefront of debates. Those who oppose the idea (Pro-lifers), thinks it is an act of woman playing “God” who live from who dies. Yet, whether an unborn baby constitutes a normal person is questionable; a pregnant woman, on the other hand, has the undeniable right to choose whether she wants to have a child or not. Therefore, the decision to have an abortion is the personal choice and responsibility of the woman, because prohibiting abortion impedes freedom of choice and endangers the physical and mental health of women.
Abortion by definition means the way of ending pregnancy by removing fetus from the womb before it is able to survive independently. Abortion is an extremely debatable issue because while some people are completely against it, others believe that a woman should have the right to choose. Abortion decision is like killing own child or killing an innocent human life before coming out from uterus. I will explain how a human life is being destroyed, the process in which they destroy the fetus, and how to avoid this situation all together I believe that abortion is morally impermissible.