Fetal Abnormality Case Study Essay

In some ethical and legal respects a pregnant woman and her fetus can be considered separate. Both the woman and the fetus are ordinarily affected by the well-being of one another for as long as each of them live. The ethical and legal issues are challenged deeply in cases where the well-being of the fetus and the mother appear to be in conflict. Our society struggles with identifying cases where the pregnant woman’s interests and/or behaviors might put her fetus at risk. Criminal and/or civil commitments should be used to bar pregnant women from exposing their fetuses to risk.

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.

Maria is very clearly using the theories based on moral agency and relationships. She is urges Jessica to put trust in her relationship with God and go through with the pregnancy, based on the idea that God has a plan for her family. It is clear that Maria does not believe in abortion, which conforms the theory related to moral agency, as she believes the best decision would be to avoid the abortion.

In this essay, the morality of the abortion of a fetus will be discussed in a drama involving a married couple named Deb and Derek (Smolkin, Bourgeois & Findler, 2010). For clarification purposes, we must first define the topic of this discussion; abortion is defined as the act in which a female voluntarily terminates her pregnancy where this act is legally permitted (Warren, 1973). Deb who is 16 weeks pregnant discovers that the fetus she is carrying will most likely be born mentally challenged (Smolkin et al., 2010). As the drama unfolds, the couple ponders the negative impact this child will have on their business, marriage as well as the quality of life that their child will experience if it is carried to term (Smolkin

day one they watch their beautiful healthy child grow up and live a normal life.

The spiritual significance of illness and suffering is a topic Christians continue to grapple with, as Larchet points out in The Theology of Illness. Scripture offers a wealth of wisdom and cues for understanding illness, health, and healing from a Christian perspective. Larchet analyzes the various and often contradictory Christian positions on health and illness, revealing how attitudes have shifted over time and with changes in medical technology, practice, and ethics. For example, St. Barsanuphius presents a comprehensive analysis of the spiritual significance of illness and suffering. One view holds that illness signifies a lack of faith; another presents illness in terms of a person who is offered the opportunity to develop a stronger faith, or whose faith is being put to a test like the story of Job. Ultimately, the latter remains the most helpful way to approach illness and healing from a Christian perspective. The essence of Christian health care is that, "Healing itself, while resulting from natural processes, actually comes from God," (Larchet 116).

Marco 's morals regarding the unborn fetus arise from the theory that only humans have moral status (Sebo, n.d.). In this case, due to severe prenatal deformities, the fetus will not possess human capabilities, which will make it less human and, therefore entitled to less moral respect (Wilson, 1994). Marco considers having an abortion owing to the monetary weight it will place on his family. It is, likewise clear, Marco’s concern about her wife. Many people tend to think that the grieve of the mother could usually be more difficult after the death of a born child than over the loss of fetus (Wilson, 1994). This make the author infer that Marco could be trying to evade her wife to go thru deeper suffering in the future.

Abortion is a historically controversial practice, igniting intense debate over the legality of the procedure. Opposition to the Supreme Court Decision of Roe v Wade often reference the morality of the issue, however their perspective and understanding is limited. A young mother with a promising future implements a different moral lens than the typical politician. Although there are several moral theories applicable, a utilitarian or Kantian lens is most appropriate. These theories are multifaceted, and while Kantian theory would superficially oppose a termination, both lenses provide moral justification for the abortion.

Fetal pain is very difficult to prove or disprove because of its subjective nature. Some argue that the fetus cannot feel pain until the 24th week of gestation because connections from the periphery to the cortex are not available until then (Derbyshire, 2015). By contrast, others say fetal pain is possible before 24 weeks on the basis that the fetus has a mechanism to detect noxious events and will respond to noxious events by withdrawing and grimacing (Derbyshire, 2015). The American Medical Association go even further that those two assumptions and state that pain perception in preterm neonates probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks (Arora & Salazar, 2014). Although no definitive conclusion is reached, fetal pain is a big factor that influences the abortion debate. As of 2016, there are 12 states that actively ban abortion after 20 weeks citing fetal pain (Fantz, 2016). They include Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota,

Indubitably, the topic of abortion has been enveloped with controversy since the 1960s. The divisive topic presents two sides: anti-abortionist and pro-choice. Anti-abortionist believe that it is immoral to abort the fetus. Pro-choice believe that the fetus is not yet a person therefore it is moral to abort the fetus. Nonetheless, Marquis presents an argument that states abortion is immoral; he presents a logical and convincing argument that works to an extent. After scrutinizing Marquis’ argument, it is prevalent that he does not address the wrongness in killing those who are mentally ill or are disabled as they do not have a future like ours. His failure to do so could leads us to the conclusion that it is morally permissible to kill fetuses that show signs of future mental illness or disability.

7) Whether the terminating a pregnancy is a right or not, this does not reflect on the kind of medical access different classes of women have in society. “is perceived quite differently by persons who expect to have access to those resources and persons who have reason to fear that they may be denied such access." (Luker. pg. 7)

opposite claim; that the unborn child, because it is a developing human being, possesses a moral status

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

The first ethical issue will be right to life and abortion. Abortion remains controversial and a highly debated subject. The ethical debate concerning abortion is the considerations of a woman’s autonomy and the rights of the woman and the unborn child. The parent/ child relationship and assessing the best interests of potential children also provide considerable scope for ethical discussion. (Jones K, Chaloner C 2007). A factor in the ethical future of abortion is the perception of morality, or of actively ending the life of an unborn human being. This process of deductive reasoning explains the most common anti-abortion argument: First, the fetus is an innocent human being. Second, it is morally wrong to kill an innocent human being and lastly, it is morally wrong to kill a fetus. This reasoning can also be applied to support a viewpoint to those who support abortion. First the fetus has no moral status. Secondly, it is not morally wrong to destroy that which has no moral status. Lastly, it is not morally wrong to destroy a fetus.

According to the findings by Mariotti (2012), the psychosocial and emotional components are an integral part of every woman’s pregnancy, and she can make decisions of whether to sustain life in her own uterus or end it (p. 269). At the same time, numerous studies have questioned the personhood of the fetus to provide well-evidenced approaches to evaluation of its social and legal status. Does a woman provide it with all necessary resources and substances like a donor? Does she have a right to extract it from her body in case she does not want to give it life, has some health care issues that put her and the baby at risk, or carries a fetus that was the result of a rape? All those questions are easier to ask than answer, but women should have the right to do with their body everything they want.