Instructions
Return to the topic you chose in week 3. Articulate a specific dilemma in a situation faced by a particular person based on that topic. The situation can be real or fictional.
- Summarize the dilemma.
- Define any needed key terms associated with the dilemma.
- Analyze the conflicts or controversies involved in the dilemma.
Revise and rewrite based on any feedback you received in your previous post (week three). Reference and discuss any professional code of ethics relevant to your topic such as the AMA code for doctors, the ANA code for nurses, etc. State whether and how your chosen topic involves any conflicts between professional and familial duties or conflicts between loyalty to self and loyalty to a community or nation.
What in your view is the most moral thing for that person to do in that dilemma? Why is that the most moral thing? Use moral values and logical reasoning to justify your answer
Next, apply the following:
- Aristotle’s Golden Mean to the dilemma
- Utilitarianism to the dilemma
- Natural Law ethics to the dilemma
Which of those three theories works best ethically speaking? Why that one?
Why do the other two not work or not work as well?
Is it the same as what you said is the most moral thing earlier? Why or why not?
Use the 5 articles from your annotated bibliography to support your answers. (Additional academic scholarly research from the past 5 years can be included as well.)
Include a reference page in APA format that includes your bibliography with the annotations removed and any other sources used.
Requirements
- Length: 4-5 pages (not including title page or references page)
- 1-inch margins
- Double spaced
- 12-point Times New Roman font
- Title page
- References page (minimum of 5 scholarly sources)
1
Abortion
Ashley Castillo
Chamberlain University
Ethics
Professor Harris
10/05/2024
2
Abortion
Baker, M. R., Papp, L. J., Crawford, B. L., & McClelland, S. I. (2023). Abortion Stigma:
Imagined Consequences for People Seeking Abortion Care in the United States.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 47(1), 35-50.
https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221131544
In the article, Baker et al. (2023) discuss that the U.S. state laws had been endorsing
surveillance on individuals and also punishing providers who undertook the procedure before
and since the Dobbs decision in 2022. The authors indicate that there is an importance to
understanding the stigma that comes with abortion and the factors that influence it, like gender
roles, among others. According to Baker et al., “One in four women have an abortion in the
United States (U.S.) before the age of 45 years” (p. 35). I believe that considering this statistic, it
is important to understand abortion stigma, but it must be looked at from the viewpoint of people
who have stigmatizing beliefs. This way, t becomes easier to understand how the stigma can be
maneuvered. The negative beliefs that people have and the social systems that reinforce them can
be said to be more structural stigma because people believe that there should be a certain way of
doing things. When one falls short of that, one gets shunned by others, and this does not help in
any way when it comes to access to safe abortions in the country. Therefore, Baker et al. are
right because paying too much attention to stigmatizing others destroys our integrity as a
country.
Blackshaw, B., & Rodger, D. (2021). If fetuses are persons, abortion is a public health
crisis. Bioethics, 35(5), 465-472. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12874
Blackshaw & Rodger (2021) discuss the pro-life moral view and how decisions fueled by
pro-life affect the lives of the women involved. The abortion debate heightened when the
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COVID-19 pandemic hit because many women were forced to be in spaces where they were at
higher risks of sexual violence because of lockdown measures. The authors use the violinist
analogy by Judith Jarvis Thomson, where the main argument is that “even if fetuses are persons,
abortion is nonetheless permissible in many instances. She also implies that women should not
be legally required to continue with pregnancy in these cases” (p. 465). Thus, the common
argument that the fetus has equal moral status, like that of adults and children, is ridiculous and
should not be used as a pro-life advocacy statement to make abortion immoral. I agree that
women should have the right to choose what happens to their bodies and this also includes
choosing not to be a life support machine for the fetus if she does not feel up to it. Therefore,
Blackshaw and Rodger have no right to decide what is morally permissible or not because they
view abortion as a public health crisis if Thomson’s stance is taken. The authors believe that in a
society where fetuses have lesser moral value, then abortion can be permissible.
Maddow-Zimet, I., Lindberg, L. D., & Castle, K. (2021). State-level variation in abortion
stigma and women and men’s abortion underreporting in the USA. Population
research and policy review, 40(6), 1149-1161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-021-
09657-4
Maddow-Zimet, Lindberg, & Castle (2020) state that abortion in healthcare is one of the
areas that has high levels of stigma, and this is true in many other settings. Again, it is highly
underreported, and there are geographic variations depending on the state. Due to the stigma,
there are sensitive behaviors that are not reported in NSFG interviews because they would like to
give responses that are socially desirable. “With abortion, the sensitivity of the behavior is
assumed to reflect high levels of abortion stigma in most settings” (1150). The direct quote
indicates that respondents do not tell as it is, indicating high levels of trauma and the data quality
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is therefore compromised. Structural stigma, for instance, is triggered by the policy environment,
and when there are restrictions for getting an abortion legally, the state and pro-life
individuals/organizations can traumatize and stigmatize those trying to get the procedure.
Furthermore, this affects minority groups, further creating disparities in care. The main thing
here is that even though there are demographic variations, underreporting is fairly common.
Underreporting was also found to be high in cases where the privacy of the interview
information was not strict. All in all, using men in abortion reports undermines how abortion
stigma is theoretically constructed because it is an ideal that is rooted in womanhood ideals.
Patev, A. J., & Hood, K. B. (2021). Towards a better understanding of abortion
misinformation in the USA: a review of the literature. Culture, Health &
Sexuality, 23(3), 285-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2019.1706001
Patev & Hood (2020) discuss the misinformation about abortion in the USA and better
understand it. Abortion touches on a woman’s health since it is a medical procedure. Thus,
having adequate and accurate information about it and other medical information is key to
understanding it on a deeper level. When there is inaccurate information about abortion, it can
significantly affect the decisions that a woman makes about her reproductive health.
Furthermore, it is well known that accurate and sufficient information assists one in informed
decision-making and in the medical setting, this is something that is preached. “Abortion
misinformation has received limited attention in psychological and health research” (p. 1). This
limited attention means that women do not have access to a lot of information, and this also
applies to lawmakers and other professionals in the medical field. There are messages that
abortion is dangerous in comparison to childbirth, which is inaccurate and affects women when
they have access to such misinformation and no accurate data that can help them make the best
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choice possible. I believe that there should be more focus in this field because it would help
improve the general public health and economy since women who decide to be pro-choice are
able to be economically useful and not depend on the state for financial assistance. All in all,
being pro-choice requires one to have access to the right information, as misinformation can
mislead and bring undesirable socioeconomic and mental health outcomes for the child and
mother as well.
Wolfe, T., & van der Meulen Rodgers, Y. (2021). Abortion during the COVID-19
pandemic: racial disparities and barriers to care in the USA. Sexuality Research and
Social Policy, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00569-8
Wolfe & van der Meulen Rodgers (2021) focus on how abortion access was affected in
the COVID-19 period. They pay attention to the racial disparities that exist in terms of
reproductive health and experiences. Abortion is medical care, and there were challenges during
the pandemic because pro-life protestors were having concerns about why abortion clinics stayed
open. Patients are often stigmatized when they try to seek abortions, especially because
protestors harass them, which gets worse if there are no escorts to protect them from getting
access to reproductive health services. “Access to abortion, a healthcare service already long
under siege from opponents, has become even more tenuous during a pandemic that has involved
widespread shutdowns” (p. 541). It means that during the pandemic period, accessing this crucial
healthcare service has become harder than it was before. There are inequalities in abortion access
as well by race, sexual identity, and ethnicity because of the systemic inequalities in health.
Unfortunately, the most affected people are marginalized populations, and the bias and racism in
the system mean that people who are already experiencing other intersecting oppressions are
even more vulnerable in this context. Also, the lack of inclusive sex education means that
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marginalized communities might have a higher need for abortion services, but access is hard.
Thus, it is important to address the barriers to care because it would help influence better access
to abortion care.
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References
Baker, M. R., Papp, L. J., Crawford, B. L., & McClelland, S. I. (2023). Abortion Stigma:
Imagined Consequences for People Seeking Abortion Care in the United States.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 47(1), 35-50.
https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221131544
Blackshaw, B., & Rodger, D. (2021). If fetuses are persons, abortion is a public health
crisis. Bioethics, 35(5), 465-472. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12874
Maddow-Zimet, I., Lindberg, L. D., & Castle, K. (2021). State-level variation in abortion stigma
and women and men’s abortion underreporting in the USA. Population research and
policy review, 40(6), 1149-1161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-021-09657-4
Patev, A. J., & Hood, K. B. (2021). Towards a better understanding of abortion misinformation
in the USA: a review of the literature. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 23(3), 285-300.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2019.1706001
Wolfe, T., & van der Meulen Rodgers, Y. (2021). Abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic:
racial disparities and barriers to care in the USA. Sexuality Research and Social Policy,
1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-021-00569-8