Bioethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bioethics - Essay Example From the Catholic point of view, life begins immediately after conception and therefore it should be preserved under all circumstances because interfering with it amount to violation of God commandment that forbids murder. Thomson (1971: 46) declines to engage in the argument of establishing when life begins, but she agrees that at conception, the fetus is an embodiment of life that at just ten weeks has developed most physical characteristics of a human being. In this case, Thomson (1971:47) support of abortion does not arise from opposing the view that life begins at conception, but from the pregnant woman point of view. The first circumstance that could make abortion morally permissible according to Judith is when a woman conceives without her consent through rape (Thomson, 1971:47). In such situation, the argument that every person has a right to live lacks conviction because it denies the woman the right to make her own sound decision. Opposing abortion in such circumstance is t antamount to accepting rape as moral act that could be justified by the pregnancy. In case of pregnancy resulting from rape, Thomson(1971:48) argues that the woman should be allowed to make her own decision on whether to abort or not, because the fetus is in the woman , she is the owner of her body and she holds the sole responsibility of determining whether to keep it or not. Another circumstance that render abortion morally permissible is when the life of the mother is in danger (Thomson 1971:49). In such circumstance, prolife activists argue that the action of aborting amounts to murdering the fetus. In this case, the mother should be allowed to carry on and die naturally. This is utter disregard of the mother‘s life where the fetus is regarded to be of more importance. The circumstance under which a woman gets pregnant should not be used as a reason for justifying moral permissibility of abortion or not. According to Thomson (1971: 53), nobody is morally required to make h uge sacrifices of her interests, health, concerns or commitment for a given period just to keep another person alive. This condition holds because the unborn child has the no right to demand the sacrifice (Thomson, 1971:53). In this case, the decision on whether a woman should make the sacrifice to carry the baby to term does not arise because the unborn child deserves the right but it is the volition of the woman to do so. The main point of contention in the abortion debate arises from the fact that a woman cannot safely undertake abortion on herself and hence she requires the assistance of a qualified person (Thomson, 1971:56). In such situation, the role of the third party on whether to accept the abortion request or not has often been strictly regulated by law, and in most countries, it is illegal for a medical practitioner to undertake the procedure on a woman. Thomson (1971:55) argues that restriction amounts to affirming that the unborn child has every right to be accommodate d in the mother’s womb and the wellbeing of the baby should always come before the interests of the woman. In this case, the role of the third party (doctor) in the abortion debate is unfairly extended to deny her wish and this situation portrays a woman like a helpless bystander, who cannot make the decision, about her happiness, yet she is the one carrying the baby in her womb. Thomson (1971:59) argues that every person has right for self