Pro-life and Prochoice campaigns and the ethical dilemmas within them. - Annotated Bibliography Example

Pro-life and Prochoice campaigns and the ethical dilemmas within them Introduction Lee, Patrick. Humanbeings are animals from international philosophical quarterly. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www2.franciscan.edu/plee/human_beings_are_animals.htm At times, people find themselves involved in very heated debates regarding a particular social effect that has consequences on all of the individuals involved. For instance, most countries have been involved in many series of debates concerning the issue of abortion, euthanasia, corporate punishment, death punishment, and/or assisted suicide among many others. Lee claims that in more than one case, people end up failing to come to consensus, a situation that leads to lack of conclusive responses, which the whole issue a decision of an individual’s choice. The connotation “pro-life” that goes hand in hand with “pro-choice” are general episodes, which seeks to expound whether an individual is willing to carry out a certain agenda commonly, termed as an ethical dilemma. Since this expansion tends to involve the issue of ethics, it is very engulfing and poses serious challenges when it comes into making the final decision. This section talks about the Pro-Life spectrum, which is an issue that seeks to determine people’s thinking towards life especially when abortion is the subject. Under this spectrum, people engage themselves in a series of campaigns where they seek to publicize to everyone including the recently conceived human being has a right to equal live. As such, abortion should be condemned and termed as a crime of the highest order, as it is similar to committing murder (Lee 2). At times, some people face this issue of abortion and are forced to make tough decisions that affect the life of the unborn infant. Such times are very trying and they give people who fall victim of such issues a hard time. During these times, life is always at steak and one has to decide to either keep it or flush it down the toilet. Lee, Patrick. Pro-life argument from substantial identity. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www2.franciscan.edu/plee/pro.htm This article points out that abortion is a pro-life issue and its research concedes that most governments make it known that it is a person’s obligation to preserve human’s life regardless of the quality of the said life concerns, viability, or intent. On the other end, a pro-choice spectrum posits that it is anybody’s believe that individuals have an unlimited autonomy particularly with regard to their personal reproductive systems. However, noting that people can only enjoy this freedom or rather freewill for as long as they do not happen to interfere with the autonomy of the others (Lee 1). Some of the pro-choice situations that require ethical decisions include celibacy, use contraceptives, childbirth, and abstinence among others. Therefore, the centre of the debate is relatively relational to strategic communication since the details given are the ones that explain whether the choice one is about to make is ethical. Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. Acorns and Embryos. Journal of Technology and Society. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/acorns-and-embryos In this article, Lee and George point out that the subject of pro-life and pro-choice resolves to reiterate countrywide especially in the United States with people perceiving the spectrum of pro-choice as “pro-abortion”. In other countries such as China, the law approves of abortion in some instances and thus people perceive the position of pro-choice as “anti-abortion” (Lee 3). Since the presence of the pro-choice and pro-life faction stems from the issue of aborting, the reality is scary as those involved revolve around persuasion as their tool towards realizing their ideas. In all cases, both the opposing and the proposing sides seeks to have their side made legal. For example, according to the pro-life movement, every life may it be conceived, undeveloped, and/or non-viable is sacred and deserves protection by the ruling government. As a result, it is a matter of persuasion that makes the whole difference which the ruling authority comes to declare whether the choice is legal or not. Family Research Council. Advancing Faith, Family, and Freedom: At the podium. Web. February 26, 2013. http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PD02D5&v=PRINT 1-2 Even though sometimes some governments take a neutral stance when the issue of abortion is the subject, the pro-life movement argues that no one has a right to take away someone’s life. Such a spectrum that involves the sacredness of a life links God’s teachings with the rest of the ideal making it ethically hard to determine. Thus, as much as other people would want to debate more about abortion, members of the pro-life movement declare that abortion must always be illegal and no one should ever practice it on an illegal base (Family Research Council 1). This position is indeed debatable, as other people believe an individual can carry out an abortion due to a number of reasons. Specifically, under the pro-choice movement, people believe that the government does not have enough authority over the human personhood and therefore cannot impede a woman to continue with her pregnancy or abort. This entails that the choice on whether to have the baby or abort remains solely in the hands of the pregnant woman. Ambassadors of mass media communication and journalists at large have made voices of different pro-life and pro-choice movement air out their stands on different issues that bear ethical dilemmas. Unlike in other subjects, abortion receives the largest degree of attention when debating about these issues since it is the most rampant among people of all age sets. With reference to most governments, it is arguable that almost all politicians fail to acknowledge the role played by the religion when it comes to abortion. The sanctity of life has a lot to determine as regards the choices made during an abortion. The Family Research Council concedes that the religious nature of the conflict regarding the issue of abortion presents an ethical dilemma such that the concerned individual beats about the idea on whether to go ahead with it or just stop. Tollefsen, Chris, Fellow, Visitng, and Madison, James. Euthanasia and the culture of life. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/tollefsen.pdf As the idea lingers in ones mind, the belief that one got an immortal soul at the time of conception makes it hard for the involved person to abort. Following these contemplations, a person faces an ethical dilemma, which follows the explanation that if a human being’s presence is determined by the immortal soul he or she receives during conception, then, there is no difference between terminating a week old pregnancy and killing a fully-grown up human being (Tollefsen, Fellow, and Madison 5). Pro-lifers regard to the essence of life with a much intention of contempt such that aborting has intentionally been no different from murdering a breathing human being. Given that the outcome and presentation of the consequences relies heavily on strategic communication, the involved individuals can only express the chosen decision using ethical points. For instance, some people have a notion that abortion should be legal in order to avoid losing two lives at the same time particularly when either the mother or the child must die in order for the other to survive. Pertinently, there are circumstances that forces nurses and doctors to make a tough choice in order to keep the life of one between the mother and the child. These situations may result from a certain disease or complication that cannot allow one of the two to survive. Generally, doctors and the concerned individuals undergo a very traumatic time especially when weighing on whose side to follow (Tollefsen, Fellow, and Madison 14). Nonetheless, given that this article describes mass media communication playing a central role in airing the decisions reached by the involved parties, the deductions made show that choosing whose life to safe and/or whose to lose, is indeed an ethical dilemma within the spectrum of pro-life and pro-choice in abortion. Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. The wrong of abortion. Web, February 26, 2013. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/Sample_chapter/1405115475/Cohen_sample%20chapter_Contemporary%20debates%20in%20applied%20ethics.pdf The overview of this article represents the views and issues concerning Buddhists and contemporary American Buddhists particularly on the issue of abortion. In this annotation, prospects indicate that there are modern ethical concerns that revolve around women, their reproductive decisions, and other aspects including the use of emergency pills and contraceptives. Agreeably, China is one of the countries that allows for abortion at some point (Lee and George 6). The same country has the most numbers of Buddhists and shares a substantial revelation of the Buddhists views towards the issue of abortion. In Buddhists ethical theory, Buddhists may solve problems that concern contemporary Buddhists and modern realities surrounding their expression of ideals. In short, they have pro-life and pro-choice movements within and among the modern Buddhists and real Buddhists where they face ethical dilemmas especially when trying to solve issues concerning traditional and contemporary Buddhists. Buddhists have a moral consideration whereby, they say that Buddha, in respect to the issue of abortion, taught an ethic regarding individual responsibility and the aspect of taking full responsibility for personal actions. According to the Buddhist theory, the moralities of abortion lie within this system whereby believers of Buddhism have the will to exercise their free will when making ethical decisions but always aware of the fact that, wholesome actions obtain peoples happiness. On the other end, those who resolve to carry out unwholesome actions face unhappiness unless their actions are purified using a some kind of a spiritual mitigation practice (Lee and George 12). Under this myriad, an individual faces an ethical dilemma in the sense that if she goes on to carry out the act of abortion, she accepts to face the consequences of unwholesome action, which is unhappiness. Kass, Leon and Cohen, Eric. Cast me not off in Old Age. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/cast-me-not-off-in-old-age/ To be sincere, no one likes to be unhappy unless otherwise and this makes it hard for the concerned individual in addition to those involved to proceed with such a decision irrespective of the believe in the consideration of the Buddhist theory. With concern to journalism’s description of pro-life and pro-choice descriptions, human life is a sentient being, which has consciousness. Hence, the heed to abort is not only illegal, but also immoral. At the center of all debates is the question on whether to legalize abortion wholly, partially, or ban it with no exception. Pro-lifers suggest that since life is a very special chance and conception an instance of collective Karma, it is a symbol of the association or affinity between and among the child, mother, and father (Kass and Cohen 4). Hence, life has sacred and pro-lifers maintained that being a sentient enlightenment, abortion is not only inhumane but also immoral and should be discouraged at all cost. Anne, Libby. How I lost faith in the “Pro-Life” Movement. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/10/how-i-lost-faith-in-the-pro-life-movement.html Anne maintains that the rational depiction of life and abortion in terms of religious pluralism gives journalists a hard time, as it does not provide for any ethical stance. However, understanding that the obligation of a government in a secular propensity is conceptual and with concern to life before and after birth, the stance of such a government results to change or stick to the ethical choices people thinks of when addressing the issue of abortion. Given that people understand, value, and associate with one another due to both emotional and social reasons, it is believable, that science does not implicate our nature of decisions that we make (Kass and Cohen 7). In marketing the idea of illegalizing abortion, pro-lifers assert that pro-choice plays a major role in the understanding and acknowledging of the ideas revolving around this controversial social issue. Novak, Rabbi. Abortion. February 26, 2013 http://www.peopleforlife.org/novak.html This article proclaims that controversial social issues such as abortion and use of contraceptives lead people into ethical dilemmas. At times, some people regard the use of contraceptives and emergency pills as irreligious and therefore not allowed by their beliefs. In such instances, those who believe that there should be a way to control birth or rather conception find it necessary to use contraceptives and emergency pills. Nonetheless, those who regard these items as immoral and against their religious believes find it unnecessary to use them and therefore turn into using the natural birth control methods which include withdrawal and use of a woman’s safe day. Apparently, the illustration of choices implicated in these situations is difficult and require an individual dissertation before resolving into applying either of them. Succinctly, in a situation where a woman does not see or feel bearing a child as necessary or important and she does not feel or think the use of artificial means of controlling birth suitable, such a woman faces an ethical dilemma. In this case, she might not understand or think correctly, based on which option is more ethical, and thus start contemplating on what to do since either of the choices is ethical according to her. When making an ethical decision, one has an obligation to follow instincts, beliefs, and facts among other spectrums that can help make an ethical decision. Within such incidences, individuals have to consider their insights of which they must follow respectively in order to avoid falling off the intended point. At times when making a point especially that involves the imposition of an ethical decision, the prospective individuals face challenging situations, which have intrinsic consequences. Teichman, Jenny. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. The New Criterion Journal. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/jekyllhyde-teichman-2339 Unlike in the case with pro-choice, pro-lifers indicate that managing to prove a point requires strategic communication skills, which are obtainable in a mass communication or journalism class. Teichman highlights that in this contemporary society, people have come to realize the essence of abandoning certain believes for some of the upcoming scientific reforms especially when controversial social and political issues are the subject (2). Today, the world is changing radically just as this article represents the advancement in science and technology as a fair example of what the contemporary society is experiencing at this instance. As opposed to the olden days, most individuals used to consider Biblical assertions, descriptions, and teachings as one of the most congruent ways of living life following the ethical approaches and contentions. Pruss, Alexander. I was once a fetus: An identity-based argument against abortion. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/ap85/papers/IWasAFetus.html 1-5 This article dissolves this information by exploring that the presence of ideas and means of improving life through advancement of science and technology wherein people are shifting from the usual means of advocating for what they believe in to what they have tested and proven scientifically. As of now, both pro-lifers and pro-choice advocates agree on the use of the available means of reducing or rather controlling birth rates following the pressurizing economic times. Overly, there are people who cannot manage to cater for more the intended number of kids (Pruss 2). This leaves them without a choice other than seeking for alternative methods of controlling the number of children that they would like to have. Failure to have several choices makes it hard for the concerned individuals consider ethics as a significant aspect of their choice. Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. Delusions and Dualism: The human being is an integrated unit. Web, February 26, 2013 http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/patrick_george200409300821.asp In reality, most people tend to do away with the influence of ethical decision making when it comes to what they consider wise and applicable in such situations. Truthful, ethical decision-making does not consider abortion as a means of controlling birth but rather an astute way of committing murder. Since some pro-lifers advocate that that presence of life along and/or that availability of DNA in its own unique way is what defines personhood (Lee and George 1). The problems that arise with the argument that life alone can define personhood ends up highlighting a very vital description of life on its own. Since humans do not constitute the aspect of removing certain body parts as killing, the definition of personhood changes since once one cuts off or removes certain part of the body it loses its life. This means that it can no longer exist as a living part of the body hence contemplating on whether to stick to the removing of that body part or not to remain an ethical decision that requires specific insights, concerns, and considerations. Bachiochi, Erika. How abortion hurts women: The hard proof. Web. February 26, 2013 http://erika.bachiochi.com/docs/HowAbortionHurtsWomen.pdf Potentially, pro-life conceptions reaffirm that everyone who has a life has an obligation towards God, self, and the others around. With that respect, the society in addition to the laws within it must at all times nurture the co-existence of life at each stage of growth. Undoubtedly, it is not easy and henceforth the task requires not only the consent of the bearer, but also the need to uphold the stipulation set herein by life pro-life advocates. According to the assertions given by the modern world, protection of life is fundamental (Bachiochi 2). Thus, indicating the issue of pro-choice is a matter of mobilizing personal consciousness, which is subject to change with response to social prevailing, emotional tendencies, and psychological bearings. Given this illustration, it is understandable that everyone would have a personal regard towards abortion and protection of life. Wittingly, debates surrounding the sanctity and responsibility of life must always be controversial due to social and emotional transformations experienced in this modern society. Currently, groups of pro-lifers are few compared to pro-choice. This is so because times have changed and everyone has a different of way of living thus pro-choice is a part of life. One has a choice to abort irrespective of what ethical teachings proclaim (Bachiochi 4). However, the need to do so follows the idea that choice is innate and should be in line with what the concerned individual wishes to do. Whereof, ethical decisions are uttermost values that human beings must always uphold but this stance follows the position that every individual has his or her own will and freedom to choose whatever he desires. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life. Web. February 26, 2013 http://old.usccb.org/prolife/pastoralplan.shtml Profoundly, the pastoral and constitutional decisions and positions attained with reference to pro-life and pro-choice ascertains that humans should always protect and promote life due to its dignity and inviolable stage. One of the important parts of dignity in human life is that taking away a human soul is gravely immoral given that such a soul is innocent. Under this scenario, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ascertains that the presence of choice is notwithstanding the essence of life and as facts show they are contradicting in many ways that is why they present people with ethical dilemmas. The focus of government and church’s commitment towards life is a matter, which revolves around pro-life and pro-choice given that they both complement profound details of living. Pro-life is far from diminishing the essence of life as it recognizes the defense of human dignity. Euthanasia being another contemporary issue consistently addressed by the church and political niches as well poses significant ethical dilemmas. In conclusion, abortion, euthanasia, and use of contraceptives as well as emergency pills remains a pro-choice phenomena and it will continue to pose ethical dilemmas to only those who have external concerns over the sanctity of life. No matter the case with social controversies regarding abortion, pro-choice will always determine whether this social effect will continue to haunt people for as long they resolve to abort. The dignity of human life is an indivisible advantage in which the attention and priority given to this description commits to unleash the essence of pro-life in its endeavors. Undeniably, ethical dilemmas are proof that the existence of pro-life and pro-choice is imperative as it gives the concerned individuals the opportunity to do whatever their consciousness sends them to pursue. Works Cited United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities: A Campaign in Support of Life. Web. February 26, 2013 http://old.usccb.org/prolife/pastoralplan.shtml Bachiochi, Erika. How abortion hurts women: The hard proof. Web. February 26, 2013 http://erika.bachiochi.com/docs/HowAbortionHurtsWomen.pdf Pruss, Alexander. I was once a fetus: An identity-based argument against abortion. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/ap85/papers/IWasAFetus.html Lee, Patrick. Human beings are animals from international philosophical quarterly. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www2.franciscan.edu/plee/human_beings_are_animals.htm Lee, Patrick. Pro-life argument from substantial identity. Web. February 26, 2013 http://www2.franciscan.edu/plee/pro.htm Family Research Council. Advancing Faith, Family, and Freedom: At the podium. Web. February 26, 2013. http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PD02D5&v=PRINT Tollefsen, Chris, Fellow, Visitng, and Madison, James. Euthanasia and the culture of life. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/tollefsen.pdf Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. The wrong of abortion. Web, February 26, 2013. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/Sample_chapter/1405115475/Cohen_sample%20chapter_Contemporary%20debates%20in%20applied%20ethics.pdf Kass, Leon and Cohen, Eric. Cast me not off in Old Age. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/cast-me-not-off-in-old-age/ Anne, Libby. How I lost faith in the “Pro-Life” Movement. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/10/how-i-lost-faith-in-the-pro-life-movement.html Novak, Rabbi. Abortion. February 26, 2013 http://www.peopleforlife.org/novak.html Teichman, Jenny. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. The New Criterion Journal. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/jekyllhyde-teichman-2339 Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. Acorns and Embryos. Journal of Technology and Society. Web, February 26, 2013 http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/acorns-and-embryos Lee, Patrick and George, Robert. Delusions and Dualism: The human being is an integrated unit. Web, February 26, 2013 http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/patrick_george200409300821.asp Read More