Name: Jhenny Mae R. Deduyo
Course & Year: BSAcc 2A
GEC09 - Ethics PT1
Date:September 26, 2023
Situation:
Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice: Would you choose your own life over your baby?
Robyn Lucas is a 23 year-old who is sixteen weeks pregnant and was told that the fetus has
Trisomy 18, a severe genetic condition usually fatal within the first week to month after birth. Her
OB-GYN and specialist is recommending an elective abortion because the condition of Trisomy
18 is not compatible with life.
Option:
1. Termination of pregnancy before she hit 22 weeks of pregnancy because the fetus
had life-threatening birth defects. But according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church it is
gravely immoral to support a couple’s decision to end the pregnancy through an early induction
of labor. It would make her selfish.
2. Not to abort because it is morally right, however, the risk of death or serious
medical problems is very high for the child. Also, if she pushes it to labor, the baby’s survival is
not guaranteed when it will last.
Explanation:
Patients often look to doctors/specialists for advice about their health, wellness, and
decisions regarding care. In the scenario, Robyn is faced with a moral dilemma and has to
choose between two actions and have moral reasons for choosing each action. If she chooses
to terminate her pregnancy, she will lose her baby and the most common reason being a belief
that the fetus is a person, hence abortion is murder and deprivation of future. Meanwhile if she
chooses not to abort, the baby’s welfare being would be complicated due to his/her Trisomy 18.
Robyn and her husband Shaka decided to have an elective abortion that is morally
unacceptable. Family members or even health care professionals she met with, made her
second-guess the decision she and her husband reached and others might shouting them that
their choice was selfish and disrespect the parents who have children with the same condition,
but what they didn’t know is, it was a lot of pressure and it was difficult to choose what they have
been agreed on what they would do if the worst happened. The factor that convinced them to
terminate the pregnancy was they weren’t guaranteed a year or a month on how long they could
spend time with their unborn child and it wasn’t that they didn’t want a baby with challenges.
As I always bumped into this issue in my whole life as a student, my initial thought was
abortion is illegal as I believed that human life begins at conception and abortion will result in
killing a fetus who has the right to life. But as I am growing older, I firmly say that I am
Pro-Choice, I understand that it’s not morally wrong to do abortion in most cases. Every woman
should have the right to choose what she does with her body. In the situation above, I think it is
morally right to choose to abort Robyn’s pregnancy. First reason is it’s her body and she’s up to
decide whether or not to abort the pregnancy. To conclude, it is better for a child not to be born if
the parent is not ready to provide for it or the parent is ill, unable to raise the child as well as to
be born into difficult conditions that will make a future happy life unlikely.
Articles:
https://amp.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article263031563.html
https://daily-philosophy.com/ethics-of-abortion/
the medical necessity for a treatment or intervention contradicts the morals and/or religious
beliefs. While the other action depicts that their life will be unlikely happy because of the very
short life expectancy to the child. Here,
For example, in the context of a condition like a ​trisomy 18 that involves
potentially severe medical problems as well as a very short life expectancy,
parents may want to avoid putting the child through unnecessary pain when
there is no hope for a good outcome. These parents may feel that
termination is the lesser of two evils.
Terminating for medical indications may involve concerns for the mother's
emotional health as well. When receiving the news of a devastating medical
diagnosis, mothers may not want to face additional months of pregnancy
only to see their much-wanted baby die in the hospital. These mothers may
need to end the physical process so they can begin grieving and healing in
the way that is best for themselves and their families
“The more I read the more I felt so much better about the decision I was making and how
there were so many women who had to make this decision and how strong all these
women were,” said Lucas, 25, who lives in Newton, Kansas, about 25 miles north of
Wichita.