Words such as morals, values, and ethics are used every day, and are acted upon
every hour, but what do they mean and how can they be applied to the decisions we make
and the way we act? Many people relate ethics to a feeling, what makes you feel good is
good, what makes you feel bad, is bad. The problem with feeling is that every human
being has a different feeling about every situation. Since no feeling is the same, ethics
cannot be defined as a feeling, nor can it be defined as religion, law, or societal beliefs.
Ethics is often categorized as religion, and although religion promotes an ethical lifestyle,
it is not limited to religious people. It is easy to conjoin ethics with law and social
conformity, however, at one point in time, blacks were not allowed to be in the same
building as whites and the people of Germany were brainwashed into thinking that it was
normal to murder Jews. If one thinks of ethics as feeling, religion, law or social
conformity then they are very much mistaken. So what is ethics and how can we take
action to support moral rights and take a stand on controversial issues such as Abortion?
Ethics refers to what humans ought to do based on a well-developed standard of
what is right and wrong. It follows the golden rules of don’t hurt, steal or lie as well as
the famous quote: “Do unto others as you would have done to you.” We as people are
morally obligated to treat others with fairness, integrity and respect. We must rationally
think of how our decisions will impact ourselves, others involved and the rest of the
world. Ethics seem like an easy concept to grasp, however, in many situations, it is nearly
impossible to make an ethical decision. A perfect example of a complicated ethical
situation is abortion. There is debate as to whether women should be allowed to have an
abortion, and the answer is not if the baby is alive. The problem with this answer is that
there are many opinions as to when life truly begins. Some doctors won’t prescribe birth
control after sex because it interferes with the joining of the sperm and the egg. In this
case, life would start as soon as the sperm hits the egg, and any procedure that interferes
with the process is to be considered murder, and therefore ethically wrong. Others believe
that life begins 8 months into pregnancy, therefore, anytime before then, the baby is not
considered alive. Based on this person’s belief, it would not be unethical to have an
abortion before 8 months because the baby is not yet considered a living human being. I
personally believe, based on ethical standards, that killing any sort of human life should
be illegal. Even though good and bad morals can be hard to define, we must do our best
to evaluate every situation in order to insure that we are making the most ethical decision.
Although many may feel that abortion should be outlawed, people who have been
raped, or under other extreme circumstances, would most likely support the ability to
have an abortion. I believe that for know and in the future, we can make people aware of
what an abortion is and ask them to rethink their decision to participate in intercourse
when the outcome could result in a child. Then we could help women understand that
accepting the risk of getting pregnant is a commitment to caring and raising for a child if
it may occur. Abortion should not be a “way out” of making a stupid decision, regardless
of the fact that we should be able to do what we want with our bodies. If you took the risk
you should pay the price, not the life of a child who hasn’t even taken its first breath.
Ethics is difficult to understand and even more difficult to describe, but when it
comes to issues such as abortion, it is pretty clear that taking the life of a child is not an
ethical thing to do. An ethical person has honesty, respect, and integrity and is able to
think reasonably in order to come to an ethical conclusion. Our morals, values, virtue,
and characteristics make an impact on other people and define who we are as citizens of
this world.