Ethical Issue Of Abortion Essay
Abortion: an ethical issue?
The issue of abortion is probably one of the most intensely debated ethical issues in today’s society. Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a foetus. It may be either spontaneous — when it is also known as miscarriage — or induced, when it is a deliberate termination of pregnancy. There are varying perceptions regarding the question of whether induced abortion is ethical at all, and if it is, in what situation it is ethical. Since ancient times, most religions have continued to oppose the idea of abortion. In Christianity (Catholic), abortion is considered a sin in all circumstances, including rape, except when an effort is made to save the mother’s life and the death of the foetus is a secondary effect of that effort. In Islam too, abortion is considered wrong, unless when it is performed to save the life of …show more content…
the mother. In Hinduism, abortion is considered a form of violence; and when considering an abortion, the chosen action should be the one which does least harm to the mother, the child, the father and society. Orthodox leaders of various other religions like Judaism and Sikhism are opposed to abortion because they believe it “interferes in the creative work of God”. Historically, in most western countries, abortion had been against the law, due to religious influence. The Soviet Union was the first country to legalize abortion, in the early twentieth century. Abortion was allowed to be carried out on demand – a mother could carry out an abortion without a reason. This unreasonable abortion was considered by many to be unethical. In 1971, India introduced The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which legalized abortion under several circumstances, even as many western countries and states of U.S.A had not yet introduced such a law. According to this law, an abortion can be carried out when the life or physical or mental health is risked, when there is a substantial risk of the child being severely abnormal, the conception is due to rape or failure of contraception; and all abortions have to be carried out within twenty weeks, after which abortions are not permitted. The language of the law is unspecific and may be perceived differently by different doctors, whose advice is required. For example, “substantial risk” is imprecise and subjective; therefore this law is rather liberal making abortions legally easy to carry out in India. However, legalizing abortion has reduced abortions being carried out illegally, which were unprofessional and often proved fatal to the mother or caused severe injury that caused more emotional trauma to the woman and the family. Under the ethical theory of utilitarianism, people must consider the happiness of all those involved; actions must be chosen which will result in the greatest amount of good for the highest number of people.
Abortion might be considered ethical if performed within the period in which the foetus is incapable of experiencing pain, theorized to be around the 23rd week of gestation. If the foetus does experience pain or suffering this suffering should be less than the sum total of the suffering that would be experienced by all people had the abortion not been carried out. Practically, it is impossible to measure the emotion of happiness or suffering; however in certain cases the suffering of the foetus due to abortion is far less than the suffering of the child or mother or family. This includes cases when the child would be born with a disorder or handicap, the mother would be killed or injured grievously or the child was a product of sexual assault and would cause severe mental trauma to the woman. In these cases, abortion is completely ethical from a utilitarian
perspective.
A Case in which abortion is unethical would be female foeticide as not only is the foetus suffering but also society as a whole due to a low ratio of females to males. In case an abortion is carried out due to failure of contraception, it would probably not be ethical if the couple is married and are financially capable of supporting the child, as the suffering of the child or family maybe less than the pain caused by killing the foetus. However, abortion may be ethical if the mother is a minor or financially incapable of supporting the child as immense trauma will be experienced by the mother and the child. Thus, the ethics of abortion cannot be generalized, each individually should be investigated carefully before deciding whether it is ethical to conduct an abortion or not.
The issue of abortion is probably one of the most intensely debated ethical issues in today’s society. Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a foetus. It may be either spontaneous — when it is also known as miscarriage — or induced, when it is a deliberate termination of pregnancy. There are varying perceptions regarding the question of whether induced abortion is ethical at all, and if it is, in what situation it is ethical. Since ancient times, most religions have continued to oppose the idea of abortion. In Christianity (Catholic), abortion is considered a sin in all circumstances, including rape, except when an effort is made to save the mother’s life and the death of the foetus is a secondary effect of that effort. In Islam too, abortion is considered wrong, unless when it is performed to save the life of …show more content…
the mother. In Hinduism, abortion is considered a form of violence; and when considering an abortion, the chosen action should be the one which does least harm to the mother, the child, the father and society. Orthodox leaders of various other religions like Judaism and Sikhism are opposed to abortion because they believe it “interferes in the creative work of God”. Historically, in most western countries, abortion had been against the law, due to religious influence. The Soviet Union was the first country to legalize abortion, in the early twentieth century. Abortion was allowed to be carried out on demand – a mother could carry out an abortion without a reason. This unreasonable abortion was considered by many to be unethical. In 1971, India introduced The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act which legalized abortion under several circumstances, even as many western countries and states of U.S.A had not yet introduced such a law. According to this law, an abortion can be carried out when the life or physical or mental health is risked, when there is a substantial risk of the child being severely abnormal, the conception is due to rape or failure of contraception; and all abortions have to be carried out within twenty weeks, after which abortions are not permitted. The language of the law is unspecific and may be perceived differently by different doctors, whose advice is required. For example, “substantial risk” is imprecise and subjective; therefore this law is rather liberal making abortions legally easy to carry out in India. However, legalizing abortion has reduced abortions being carried out illegally, which were unprofessional and often proved fatal to the mother or caused severe injury that caused more emotional trauma to the woman and the family. Under the ethical theory of utilitarianism, people must consider the happiness of all those involved; actions must be chosen which will result in the greatest amount of good for the highest number of people.
Abortion might be considered ethical if performed within the period in which the foetus is incapable of experiencing pain, theorized to be around the 23rd week of gestation. If the foetus does experience pain or suffering this suffering should be less than the sum total of the suffering that would be experienced by all people had the abortion not been carried out. Practically, it is impossible to measure the emotion of happiness or suffering; however in certain cases the suffering of the foetus due to abortion is far less than the suffering of the child or mother or family. This includes cases when the child would be born with a disorder or handicap, the mother would be killed or injured grievously or the child was a product of sexual assault and would cause severe mental trauma to the woman. In these cases, abortion is completely ethical from a utilitarian
perspective.
A Case in which abortion is unethical would be female foeticide as not only is the foetus suffering but also society as a whole due to a low ratio of females to males. In case an abortion is carried out due to failure of contraception, it would probably not be ethical if the couple is married and are financially capable of supporting the child, as the suffering of the child or family maybe less than the pain caused by killing the foetus. However, abortion may be ethical if the mother is a minor or financially incapable of supporting the child as immense trauma will be experienced by the mother and the child. Thus, the ethics of abortion cannot be generalized, each individually should be investigated carefully before deciding whether it is ethical to conduct an abortion or not.