Although the court made the ruling that women have a right to terminate a pregnancy, the issue has remained one of the most decisive debates in American politics. For instance, many people think that the decision to allow women to procure abortion relies on the question of moral status. There are further issues, such as the moral status of the fetus. Based on this judgment, it would seem that only a few would support abortion. On the other hand, most people agree that abortion is not morally permissible because it involves killing children because they are unwanted or have disabilities. This discussion will show that the current abortion debate focuses on the moral issues that are associated with artificial gestation chambers. They have recently been used to save children from mothers who do not want to carry the pregnancy for nine months.
The most recent issues on abortion focus on providing a solution to women who do not want to carry babies in their wombs. For example, there are transhumanist supporters, who are activities that apply the idea that there is a cure for every human problem, including pregnancy complications (Bowman, 2017). Transhumanist proponents currently suggest that pregnant women who want to abort can instead transfer their babies into artificial gestation chambers. They argue that the artificial chambers could be a lasting solution to the never-ending debate of abortion controversies. According to them, the artificial chambers could save more than 600,000 abortions that are performed in the United States yearly (Bowman, 2017). Although the abortion debate cannot be resolved soon, the artificial wombs offer a way for both sides of the debate to arrive at a consensus.
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Ethical issues on abortion have centered on the full moral status view of the Catholics. Many proponents based their facts on Natural Law, which dictates that every fetus has the right to life (Roseman, 2015). This view has inspired many pro-life supporters in recent debates on issues and led to the suggestion that fetus has a future like human beings. If genetic testing shows that the fetus will have problems when born, then abortion should be considered in that case (Roseman, 2015). Thus, debates no longer question the morality of abortion, but morality that promotes only an early life so long as the fetus turns well.
The human subject protection that is addressed in the abortion debate relates to the moral obligation that doctors should have in protecting an unaggressive innocent fetus and embryo. According to moral communities, it is not right to kill a newly fertilized ovum, pre-embryo, fetus, or newborn baby who is about to grow into a mature independent person (Roseman, 2015). So, moral communities emphasize that it is not morally right to kill (“abort”) a developing human being. They also suggest that every person should acknowledge that a human being, including the developing unborn child, has the right to life. To strengthen human subject protection, governments should enforce laws abolishing abortion methods. For example, abortion methods that include removing the fetus from the womb and terminating it when it is alive should be prohibited by the law (Roseman, 2015). Also, governments should impose limits based on fetal sentience, such as physicians, should not participate in abortion if the fetus is 20 weeks old and above.
In matters of informed consent, many laws restrict abortion only in cases that the woman’s health is at risk. In such circumstance, a woman has the right to make informed consent to a physician before choosing abortion. This protects the physician from facing litigation. Also, the physician has the right to make informed consent regarding the health condition of a pregnant woman before considering an abortion (Roseman, 2015). Informed consent is a part of the ethical rules that are enforced in hospitals to protect a patient from being treated by doctors without her permission. Informed consent is appropriate in cases of abortion because it is used to justify that a pregnant woman is fully aware of why she is choosing abortion . This prevents litigations related to abortion, such as young pregnant girls who are forced to abort against their will by parents (Roseman, 2015). If the patient cannot consent, she can rely on a surrogate decision-maker, who is appointed by the patients to follow her expressed wishes. For example, physicians can count on an authorized guardian to express the personal values, goals of care, and wishes of a pregnant matter when procuring an abortion.
There is five recommendation that can be applied in cases of abortion to ensure that individuals make the right decisions. The first one is that women should consider the age of the fetus before considering abortion, such as it is ethically wrong to abort a fetus of 20 weeks old and above (Roseman, 2015). Second, mothers should consider that fetus is a developing human being. Therefore, they should consider alternative means of growing the fetus, including putting it inside an artificial gestation chamber. Third, abortion should only be considered if the life of the mother is at risk because of the unborn baby and needs to be saved. Fourth, doctors should respect patients’ consent before procuring an abortion (Roseman, 2015). Lastly, doctors have a right to refuse to provide abortion to women if their reasons to abort are not morally justifiable.
The current moral status focuses on identifying concerns that are related to permitting abortion in pregnant women. For example, pro-life supporters argue that when people choose to abort, they prevent an early life from continuing. However, pro-choice supporters have argued that some extenuating circumstances can be considered in case abortion should be preferred. In this view, the next stage of abortion debate seems to focus on the moral issues that are associated with putting embryos in artificial gestation chambers. This decision provides a solution to ethical problems that are associated with abortion and serves to protect maternal health.
References
Bowman, K. (2017). A Steady March In Public Opinion On Abortion. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bowmanmarsico/2017/01/25/a-steady-march-in-public-opinion-on-abortion/#3789d6321b3c .
Roseman, H. (2015 ). Transhumanism: History And Birth Of Manmade Life . Melbourne: Lulu.com
