Ethical Issues In Abortion
Introduction
Description of client
Amelia is a 23 year old Hispanic woman who has a variety of issues that range from her drug addiction which has caused her 4 children to be removed from her home, to a current unwanted pregnancy.
Ethical challenge
The pressing ethical challenge, for Amelia, is the unwanted pregnancy; pressing because she must make a decision in one week otherwise she will have gone past the safe termination boundary, should she decide to terminate. Additionally, her family is catholic and does not believe in abortion; on the other hand, she has been struggling with this and has been using in hopes that she would miscarry. Furthermore, Amelia has asked me what she should do in regards to this decision. I informed her that …show more content…
it is not my decision to make, however; I will help guide her as she sorts through every option available. My personal ethical issue would be that she is pregnant and using drugs, and my overwhelming concern for the unborn child. However, I will attempt to reconcile my values and beliefs to warrant my ability to help Amelia reach her best conclusion and or choice that she must live with. According to the text, “True criticism is an honest, malice-free assessment of an idea or an action. […] Done in the right spirit, it is a positive undertaking that can produce greater understanding for the sake of wisdom and virtue” Taleff, Michael J. (pp. 9, 10).
Ethical Screens
• Virtue Ethics: Decisions one makes based upon creating and maintaining moral character.
• Divine Command: One’s perspective based on one’s faith beliefs and values.
• Deontology: A decision based on one’s duty, responsibility, and or role.
• Utilitarianism: Achieving the greatest good, for the greatest number of people making the choice that will yield the best outcome for all involved.
Discussion
I briefly implemented the four screens into the conversation as an effort to give Amelia several thoughts to consider as she finds her best outcome. Deontology appears to be the screen that best represents my client’s ethical challenge due to her duty to her mother’s faith beliefs and the concern she has with being a disappointment to her. I began again by asking Amelia to tell me more about her children who were removed.
Amelia explained that she had been using drugs on and off for the previous 5 years or so and was turned in by her mother who consequently is aware of her addiction and that she is pregnant again. The children were temporarily placed with Amelia’s mother while she (Amelia) gets treatment. Amelia is allowed supervised visits with her children once weekly on Saturday’s for three hours. Additionally, she is required to do an out-patient program including aftercare, and complete a parenting class before she can be reunited with her children. With regard to the unwanted pregnancy, Amelia became very emotional (crying profusely) I gave pause until she was ready to move …show more content…
forward.
As she composed herself, I asked what she was struggling with.
Amelia stated that she was struggling with the thought of birthing another child in the mist of the chaos that existed in her life; the father is absent and she has no real help from her family besides the condemnation that is thrusted upon her because she is not married. I pursued the divine command issue by asking her what she believed for herself (not what mom believed), she told me that she was not sure about her beliefs at this point, but she really did want to keep her unborn child and has been feeling guilty that she even considered termination, and this had no bearing on the pressures she had endured from her mother. The conversation has seemingly shifted to virtue ethics as she attempted to sort out her issues. “Moral arguments usually recommend a position based on a value as whether a behavior is good or bad, or whether a particular choice is a good one or a bad one” Taleff, Michael J. (pp.
29).
I discussed the meaning of utilitarianism with Amelia by proving an offering of yet another choice, however, she was not concerned so much with the bet outcome for everyone else, but what was best for her, the unborn child and her 4 children. Her decision was to choose virtue ethics; for her, it meant doing the right thing, because it was the right thing to do, that her present drug use and abuse is not the unborn child’s fault. Amelia also stated that she intends to love this child as much as she can by getting clean and with the help of other community resources and support of counseling she will do her best and would like invite mom to attend family counseling with her.
Reference
Taleff, Michael J. (2010): Advanced Ethics for Addiction Professionals.
Springer Publishing Company, LLC, New York, NY.
Description of client
Amelia is a 23 year old Hispanic woman who has a variety of issues that range from her drug addiction which has caused her 4 children to be removed from her home, to a current unwanted pregnancy.
Ethical challenge
The pressing ethical challenge, for Amelia, is the unwanted pregnancy; pressing because she must make a decision in one week otherwise she will have gone past the safe termination boundary, should she decide to terminate. Additionally, her family is catholic and does not believe in abortion; on the other hand, she has been struggling with this and has been using in hopes that she would miscarry. Furthermore, Amelia has asked me what she should do in regards to this decision. I informed her that …show more content…
it is not my decision to make, however; I will help guide her as she sorts through every option available. My personal ethical issue would be that she is pregnant and using drugs, and my overwhelming concern for the unborn child. However, I will attempt to reconcile my values and beliefs to warrant my ability to help Amelia reach her best conclusion and or choice that she must live with. According to the text, “True criticism is an honest, malice-free assessment of an idea or an action. […] Done in the right spirit, it is a positive undertaking that can produce greater understanding for the sake of wisdom and virtue” Taleff, Michael J. (pp. 9, 10).
Ethical Screens
• Virtue Ethics: Decisions one makes based upon creating and maintaining moral character.
• Divine Command: One’s perspective based on one’s faith beliefs and values.
• Deontology: A decision based on one’s duty, responsibility, and or role.
• Utilitarianism: Achieving the greatest good, for the greatest number of people making the choice that will yield the best outcome for all involved.
Discussion
I briefly implemented the four screens into the conversation as an effort to give Amelia several thoughts to consider as she finds her best outcome. Deontology appears to be the screen that best represents my client’s ethical challenge due to her duty to her mother’s faith beliefs and the concern she has with being a disappointment to her. I began again by asking Amelia to tell me more about her children who were removed.
Amelia explained that she had been using drugs on and off for the previous 5 years or so and was turned in by her mother who consequently is aware of her addiction and that she is pregnant again. The children were temporarily placed with Amelia’s mother while she (Amelia) gets treatment. Amelia is allowed supervised visits with her children once weekly on Saturday’s for three hours. Additionally, she is required to do an out-patient program including aftercare, and complete a parenting class before she can be reunited with her children. With regard to the unwanted pregnancy, Amelia became very emotional (crying profusely) I gave pause until she was ready to move …show more content…
forward.
As she composed herself, I asked what she was struggling with.
Amelia stated that she was struggling with the thought of birthing another child in the mist of the chaos that existed in her life; the father is absent and she has no real help from her family besides the condemnation that is thrusted upon her because she is not married. I pursued the divine command issue by asking her what she believed for herself (not what mom believed), she told me that she was not sure about her beliefs at this point, but she really did want to keep her unborn child and has been feeling guilty that she even considered termination, and this had no bearing on the pressures she had endured from her mother. The conversation has seemingly shifted to virtue ethics as she attempted to sort out her issues. “Moral arguments usually recommend a position based on a value as whether a behavior is good or bad, or whether a particular choice is a good one or a bad one” Taleff, Michael J. (pp.
29).
I discussed the meaning of utilitarianism with Amelia by proving an offering of yet another choice, however, she was not concerned so much with the bet outcome for everyone else, but what was best for her, the unborn child and her 4 children. Her decision was to choose virtue ethics; for her, it meant doing the right thing, because it was the right thing to do, that her present drug use and abuse is not the unborn child’s fault. Amelia also stated that she intends to love this child as much as she can by getting clean and with the help of other community resources and support of counseling she will do her best and would like invite mom to attend family counseling with her.
Reference
Taleff, Michael J. (2010): Advanced Ethics for Addiction Professionals.
Springer Publishing Company, LLC, New York, NY.