Case Study: Foetal Abnomality
Introducton
In the “foetal abnormality” case study, divergent views emerge regarding the health/physical status of the foetus and the Christian perspectives of life. The underlying case involves Jessica’s pregnancy of an armless foetus with 25% chanes of developing a down syndrome. Dr. Wilson is caught in the dilemma of breaking the unplesanat news of the scan results to the family but finally unveils the scan results which sends th Marco and Messica in a confusion and start reflecting how diffidult their life will be when raising a disabled child. Maria is a religious aunt who attempts to advise Jessca not to opt for an abortion because God is the giver of life and humans do not have control over his plans. Dr. Wilson is, however, in support of aborting the foetus and perhaps every individual in the case presents their theoretical perspectives regarding the moral status of the foretus.
The nature of human persons and moral status of the foetus in theoretical perspective
Human dignity, socioeconomic status and religious perspectives control the reasoning and decsons by Jessica, Marco, Maria and Dr. Wilson regarding the status of the foetus. The christial perspective of life describes it as sacred and begin right from conception. Clinical, mother’s views and social economic perspective of life presents pro-choice grouds for abortion. The choice to terminate the life of a foetus depends on the understanding of both Christian and worldly views regarding abortion (Quinn, 2016). Dr Wislon has provided the family with numerous options regarding the health status of the foeutus but appears to support the idea of abortion in relation to Jessica’s status. The doctor utilizes the theory of cognitive properties which implies that for a person to exhibit moral status, they must be capable of demostating awareness and rationality. In this case, the foetus does not have moral status because it cannot demonstrate awareness and rationality. In this perspective, aborting the foetus is acceptable and will not violate the aspect of human dignity as described in both biblical and worldviews.
Maria is quoted pleading with Jessica to re-examine her role as a mother to the child and also in respect to God’s purpose. This reasoning is based on relationship theory which presents the relationship between the unborn child and Jessica and Jessica’s relationship with her creator. Perhaps as quoted in Christian teachings, God knows every human persons even before they are conceived. As such, the decision to terminate a pregnancy would imply ending a life that God already created (Quinn, 2016). The relationships that exist between Jessica, God, and the foetus provides the unborn baby with moral status which qualifies abortion as a wrong acton. The relationships theory also backs the divine command theory which dempmstrates the command issues by God during creation. God instituted man to multiply and full the earth and, therefore, termination of pregnancy wiould be an act against God’s command (Hanna, 2015). God being the creator, He decides morality and had the greatest noral authority over life.
The the theory of moral urgency tends to play part in Jessica’s argument based on the financial burden that the child would pose if he is born with disability. She is facing a conflict in this situation because her religious beliefs oppose abortion. She is acting as moral agent in the situation. By moral agent (derived from the moal agency theory), a person acts by herself to come up with the most appropriated decision. Jessica is experiencing the moral agent situation by trying to reach the most effective decision regarding her pregnancy (Soleimani, 2015). Jessica will be the eventual person that will determine the moralstatus of the child after analyzing the underlying circumstances in her situation. Marco is expressing her concerns regarding the burden of the disabled child but expresses willingness to support the child and this further describes the idea of relationships because the moral status of the child may change depending on the decisions that Jessica makes (Hanna, 2015).
The author believes in the thory of sentience and relationships. The unborn child is a sentient being. Sentient beings have relationships and status that determine their moral status in the society. A foetus can feel pain just like any other person and the foetus’ mother has an obligation to protect the foetus. Likewise, the foetus mother has an obligation not to destroy/kill the foetus as God’s creation. It appears that the author and the other four individuals in the case study exhibited different values in regards to human life as depicted by their reasoning regading the foetal abnormality case. The author is of a Christian perspective who believes that abortion is immoral and goes against God’s teahcings and plans.
Conclusion
It should, however, be understood that the opinion of a doctor or a nurse should not influence the decision of a patient as evidenct by Dr. Wilson and Maria. The decision to conduct an abortion is exclusively personal and should be left for the individual themslevles decide. This is because abortion decions affets a person in entirety of their life. As medical professionals, one is supposed to offer advise and options for abortions unbiasely to allow a happy ending for all parties involved.
