Ethical Dilemma and the Best Suited Ethical Theory

Ethical Dilemma 2
Section A
More often than not, people and organizations get confronted with ethical dilemmas, which refer to situations where they have to choose between two decisions with moral connotations. In essence, this means that whichever decision they make will have ethical implications. In the case of C.R.A.C.K., the organization faces the ethical dilemma of whether to continue encouraging drug-addicted women to undergo permanent birth control. On the other hand, it has to consider the option of abandoning incentives to addicted women and allowing them to continue giving birth as they wish. The organization feels obligated to stop addicted women from giving birth for several reasons. First, infants born to addicted mothers are exposed to such hazards as cognitive deficits and behavioral disorders, among others. Since such children have significantly limited opportunities, they find it difficult to get adoptive homes. Second, the organization contends that controlling births by addicted mothers will considerably reduce the size and cost of public child welfare systems. On the other hand, the organization faces criticism from some quarters, terming their endeavor unethical. The critics disapprove of the approach claiming it exploits vulnerable and desperate women.
The exact moral dilemma in the case scenario highlighted above is whether C.R.A.C.K. should carry on with its program of offering monetary incentives to addicted mothers to lure them into undergoing permanent birth control programs. The organization believes that it is morally wrong for addicted mothers to give birth to children they can ill afford to look after. As such, it contends that instead of exposing such children to unnecessary suffering and limitations, the women would rather not have them. However, critics of the program, on the other hand, fault the approach by positing that it is morally unacceptable to take advantage of the vulnerable. Therefore, the moral dilemma is whether C.R.A.CK. should continue with the strategy or abandon it altogether.
Section B
The stakeholders in the case scenario include addicted mothers targeted by an organization that seeks to stop them from giving birth to children they can hardly look after. The mothers play a critical role in the entire ethical dilemma because, without them, the dilemma would not have occurred. The other stakeholder in the ethical dilemma is C.R.A.C.K., an organization offering monetary incentives to addicted mothers to coax them to undergo long-term or permanent birth control. The third group of stakeholders in the case are opponents and proponents of the strategy adopted by C.R.A.C.K. They are integral in the case scenario since their contrasting opinions form the foundation of the moral question.
The normative theory best suited for resolving this ethical dilemma is utilitarianism. The approach advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure while opposing those that promote unhapp...