Abortion: An Ethical Debate

When the beginning of life actually occurs is clearly not a topic to be taken lightly in today’s modern world. Majority of the population’s answers to this question are based on each individuals opinion and is supported by what they believe. In general, there are two sides of the argument. One is that life begins at the time of conception. The other belief is that life doesn’t begin until the drawing of the first breath. The true dilemma here is not the accurate pinpointing of life’s beginning, but the questions that accompany this topic and each individuals desire to do the right thing, the moral thing. While one point of view allows for abortion the other does not. The issue raises many questions of morality. Is abortion moral? When does it become murder? When is it permissible? (Life of the mother at stake / A product of rape). Should it be the mother’s choice? Many arguments for both sides pull from scripture and scientific articulations.

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.

This report describes how ethics involving embryos has been ongoing for 25 years but has significantly increased with the stem cell controversy. Another issue brought up by this report is whether or not federal funds should be spent on an issue that is so ethically

An ethical dilemma is a debate between two moral principles, where two sides can dispute about what is wrong or what is right. However, there is no real answer to an ethical dilemma. Is it a “simple” matter of what one believes in? The best answer would be, in ethics, it is not always simple. Ethics have a propensity to engage in moral reasoning, performing critical examination of different beliefs, in order to determine whether they should be accepted or rejected. Abortion is considered an ethical dilemma. It is examined by two different groups, which have two different perspectives; Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice.

Just because it will develop into a human being doesn’t mean it is one, if that were true, we would be buying seeds instead of fruits. The implications of a fetus having legal rights pit the fetus against the woman carrying the fetus; for example, if the woman needed a medical procedure, the law could require the fetus to be considered separately and equally. On the issue of where or not an abortion should be permitted depending on embryonic development, I feel the decision should be made by the Physician.

The introduction and expansion of embryonic stem cell research initiated a highly debated ethical topic. Can our society agree to disagree? What are embryonic stem cells? What are stem cells? Is all stem cell research considered abortion? Debates surrounding embryonic stem cell research is further complicated by social standards and needs, religious beliefs, and personal morals.

In the second process, scientists solely manipulate the culture in which the embryonic cells are grown or directly alter the genetic content of the cells. Herein lies the heart of the ethical debate over the morality of destroying a human embryo in order to derive embryonic stem cells for treatment.

Society tends to only focus on the black and white when it comes to controversial issues and forgets about the gray area that is almost always there. Embryonic stem cell research and treatment is no exception to this phenomenon. Kristina Hug writes about what she believes to be the four arguments for the ethical dilemmas surrounding stem cell research in her article titled “Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Ethical Dilemma”. Like the authors of the previous article mentioned said, Hug agrees that the two moral principles that stem cell research forces us to choose between are the duty to respect the embryo versus the duty to protect the sick. However, they offer other views along the spectrum and reasons why people are for and against each viewpoint. The first viewpoint provided states that “the embryo has full moral status from fertilization onwards”. It says the criteria for ‘personhood’ is notoriously unclear and different people define what makes a person a person in different ways. Ones who agree with this statement argue that development from an embryo into a baby is an ongoing process and it is impossible to pinpoint when exactly personhood begins. They also argue that an embryo is simply a person in the embryonic stage and although it does not currently have the characteristics of a person, they will eventually become a person and should be given the same rights and respect people receive. The second viewpoint states that “there is a cut-off point at fourteen days after fertilization”. The source says that some people argue that a human embryo deserves special protection from around day fourteen after fertilization. A reason why people argue that point is that fertilization is a process, not a ‘moment’ and an embryo in the earliest stages is not yet clearly defined as an individual. The third viewpoint in this

An 18 year old girl gets pregnant and can’t decide whether to keep the baby or have an abortion. Her parents are very religious and do not believe in sex before marriage therefore would not take to kindly to their daughter being pregnant.

“If a life is lost, we tend to feel differently about it depending on the stage of the lost life” (Embryonic Stem Cell Research: an Ethical Dilemma). A fertilized egg that has not reached or has not been implanted in the uterus does not necessarily define that it has life. To be more precise if an embryo certifies to have moral status, then we must look through the stages of development before the life's birthed. It takes six days for an embryo to reach the uterus for implantation. In after fourteen days the start of the nervous system will then develop. Following this stage would be the phase of which the body becomes premature and then birth. According to Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, believed that life did not start after three stages. He defined those stages as vegetative, animated, and intellectual. People started to believe with Aristotle that life of a human being did not begun till after these three stages. This belief concluded for many that “ an embryo did not become human until after birth, and this idea has influenced public perception and dialogue ever since” (Panno). One can argue that if it is not a fact when an embryo is considered a human then why eliminate their chances from having the potential to become one? Blastocysts, from where the embryonic stem cells are derived from, contains a high failure rate of 75 % in which it can be lost through the process of implantation by natural causes. About “more than half of fertilized eggs are lost due to natural causes” (Panno) and so it should not be agonized in the fact that early embryos are used for research. As for embryos that have reach the womb, implanted in the uterus for fertilization, fourteen days or conception, then and there applies the issue when the embryo contains of human characteristics. As blastocysts, embryos do not really have the status of anything as a part of someone’s body, when it has reached

There have been many controversies around the world concerning the ethical issues of the Embryotic Stem-Cell Research (ESC). Some people consider it to be abortion while others believe it is not. To many individuals, it involves a violation of their moral standards and is against their religious beliefs. To this day, many individuals are haunted by these disputes. Unfortunately, the laws that preserve life have been so perversely bent out of shape that nobody knows which answer should be taken on this subject. Many individuals believe that it could be the greatest research for the findings of many cures of cancer and diseases; however killing an embryo does not come to mind when they think of such experiments. They simply do not comprehend

These prima facie principles primarily concern respect for the choices people make, the obligation to help, but not harm, other parties, and the requirement to act in a fair and equitable manner with regard to the distribution of medical burdens and benefits. Critics charge that principle-based bioethics is unsuitable for practical decision making as it lacks the hierarchical order of principles in any given practical situations. The moral status of embryos, fetuses, and infants continues to dominate beginning-of-life debates. Some ethicists suggest that fetuses deserve moral standing and consideration by virtue of their belonging to the human species. Others reject this proposal as speceists, arguing that the mere fact of being human does

Our society is filled with numerous ethical dilemmas. We are consistently bombarded with ethical issues daily. At times, these ethical dilemmas are virtually impossible to unravel. I believe the topic of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial issues in today’s society. It is also the one people are most passionate about as it continues to be scrutinized by two groups, holding fast to different perspectives; Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice.

The key issues and questions surrounding abortions vary depending on the group or individual. Many religious denominations feel that what separates killing a human or animal from killing a vegetable is not life, but the ability to think and feel pain. Due to this, key issues are; When can a foetus feel pain? and When can it think? As well as the obvious When is a foetus a human?

The ethical controversy mainly revolves around the idea of human embryos being taken through the stem cell research