a. Explain how a follower of natural law might approach the issues surrounding abortion Thomas Aquinas’s ethical system of natural moral law is a Christian evolution of Aristotle’s theory of causes, in so far as that it is an absolutist position stemming from human rationality, although differing in that it holds the standard to 5 unarguable precepts. These are: self preservation and protection of the innocent, continuation and proliferation of the species, the education of children, living in society and worshipping god. Natural law is a deontological ethic, meaning that it considers the act itself as moral or immoral and, because of its absolutism, disregards the consequences of the action. It focuses on the intrinsic value of the action itself and whether or not it is inherently good or bad, meaning that when applied to abortion there is not much lenience as it directly breaks three of the primary precepts: those of preserving life and the innocent, proliferation of the species, and to a lesser extent, the education of children (by removing the potential for one).
They provide evidence for the idea that life starts at conception with biblical quotes like "the days ordained to me were written in your book before one even came to be" and "your eyes saw my unformed body" suggesting that our personhood in God's view starts at as soon as the egg is fertilised. With that in mind, one of the ten commandments: "thou shalt not kill" would apply strongly to foetuses, and this is why many Catholics believe abortion is wrong under all circumstances. As for the societal implication, Christians could argue that allowing abortion could lead to a lesser respect for human life in general, which is disrespectful to God who gave us the divine gift of life. From the perspective of Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics, abortion can be seen as unacceptable in many cases where the amount of agape love is not maximised. This could mean in cases where the mother could look after the child comfortably with love and care but chooses not to out of selfishness instead (one of the four functioning principles: pragmatism, would need to be applied to decide).
The ethical view of abortion Does a mother have the right to take the life of her unborn child? Some may say that it is God’s will for that fetus to be born, and that the child is supposed to be born. This essay does not argue religious views, but ethical views. I will be using different views from an ethical standpoint to try to understand if abortion is morally good or bad. From a non-biblical standpoint, it is based on whether a woman finds it ethically right to terminate a pregnancy and what effect it would ultimately have on her happiness.
The movement of anti-abortion was created and was also expanding. Creating two sides: pro-life which are against abortion, stating that abortion is murder. They believe that the fetus is a person, and has rights like all humans, and shouldn’t be killed. And the other side is pro-choice, entailing that those against abortion are against choice. They don’t see the fetus as an individual, they think that it’s mother’s decision to stay pregnant or not.
Q A) Examine the ethical issues involved in abortion [30 marks] Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of pregnancy, usually before the foetus is 24 weeks old. Although abortion is legal in may countries, there are some opponents who argue that abortion is wrong. There are three main issues involved with abotrion. These are: · The value of potential and actual life · The life of the mother vs the life of the child · Ethical issue in legislation about abortion The key discussion point with the issue of the value of potential and actual life is whethere abortion is murder or not. This depants on personal view of personhood.
For example, one of the Ten Commandments ‘Thou shall not kill’ should not be broken and is applied to situations such as the death penalty or abortion. This links to the divine command theory. This is a meta-ethical theory which proposes that what is moral is determined by God and that to be moral is to follow his commands. This theory claims that morality is ultimately based on God and the right action is the one that God requires. The divine commands vary in religions but in the end, they all have in common that moral obligations depend on God.
"Natural law approach is the best approach to abortion." Discuss (10) Natural law is based on the conviction the world was created in a sense of order with a purpose, and that we can find out the purpose through reason. When we find out our purpose we can than act accordingly. There are many benefits to natural law. For example because it is seen as absolutist, it provides a firm moral foundation of rules and clear guidance.
If fetuses are considered to persons with the same moral status as typical adult humans, opponents of abortion would tend to make the argument that “Every person has a right to life. A fetus is a person, therefore it has a right to life.” With this taken into account, opponents of abortion also believe that since the fetus is a person with the right to life, its right to life outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in her body. Therefore the fetus should the be killed and an abortion should not be preformed as it is often considered morally impermissible to kill another person with the same moral status as typical adult humans. However, we should consider a case in which the mother will die if an abortion is not preformed. Despite the fact that both she and the fetus has the equal right to life, opponents of abortion would still consider it wrong to preform an abortion with reasons ranging from killing an innocent person is always wrong and is murder to one must always prefer letting a person die to killing a person.
Counselors advocate change at all levels to improve the quality of life for individuals or groups, while eliminating obstacles that make it difficult to receive proper services. Christian counselors promote the same quality as secular counselors but incorporate the messages of Jesus Christ. Three specific areas competence, conflict of Interest and termination are valuable in the counseling profession. Understanding these areas in the code of ethics of counseling is an important responsibility in order to be a professional and suitable counselor. Can Your Code of Ethics Be Wrong?
Abortion is seen as no different to murder. In the case or Rape or incest, pro-life campaigners argue that the child is the one being punished when it has not committed the crime and that the child is completely innocent and it’s the criminal that instead should be punished. Pro –life campaigners also argue that adoption is an alternative to abortion, and that many people will use abortion as a method of contraception. They argue that there are thousands of people waiting to adopt children, so if a mother decides she doesn’t want her child for any reason she can offer this child through adoption to a suitable