Abortion: Controversies, Professional Code of Ethics, and Utilitarianism

Course Project Milestone: Ethical Dilemma Scenario
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Course Project Milestone: Ethical Dilemma Scenario
Mr. and Mrs. James attended a health screening at a Catholic Church-sponsored health clinic. Mrs. James was found to have active TB. Mr. and Mrs. James were instructed by the clinic nurse to take medication for a specific period, as well as to get adequate rest and good nutrition. Mrs. James was affirmed to be ten weeks pregnant during her subsequent checkup. Due to the effect of antituberculosis medication, the fetal risk of abnormalities was increased. In this case, the clinical physician suggests an abortion. Mr. and Mrs. James agreed to the doctor’s decision. She and her partner are Christians, so abortion is not supported by their faith. Mr. and Mrs. James and their friend John arrived at the clinic the following day. Mrs. James informed the nurse that their position on abortion had changed. While the nurse inquired about the reason for the change in their decision, John explained that Mrs. James refused to have an abortion based on agency sponsorship and religious beliefs. The nurse informed Mr. and Mrs. James that, as devout Catholics, they could not terminate the pregnancy. Mr. and Mrs. James have the right to decide on their health freely without being coerced.
Conflict/Controversies in the Dilemma
The leading cause of the abortion controversy is religion. There are three main ways that traditional Christianity encourages opposition to abortion. Deductive moral reasoning, which claims that abortion violates the purity of life as well as rebellion against God’s design, authoritative moral reasoning, which invokes Catholic dogma, as well as consequentialist moral sense, which perceives abortion as a means of regulating sexuality and limiting women to the home (Rachels, 2019). In this scenario, Mr. and Mrs. James declines to terminate the pregnancy because of their religion.
Professional Code of Ethics
According to the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) code of ethics, nurses should promote and defend the rights, safety, as well as the health of their patients (American Nurses Association, 2015). My personal and professional values include compassion, respect for human life, and honesty. Respecting a fetus’ life and encouraging the decision to have an abortion conflict with my personal as well as professional values since having an abortion means terminating the fetus. Mrs. James’s health is vital in this case, and the abnormality of the fetus could burden the family. Thus, deciding to abort is morally acceptable.
The moral thing in this dilemma
I am in support of abortion in this situation due to fetal abnormalities. Mrs. James’ fetus is more likely to be abnormal, and also, the abortion would benefit the mother’s health.
Aristotle’s Golden Mean to the dilemma
The Golden Mean of Aristotle states that moral behavior is the average between two extremes, with excess and deficiency at either end (Tilley, 2021). Find a middle ground between those two extremes, and your behavior will be moral. The solution to this problem is for Mrs. James to abort her kid. The shortcoming i...