Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare - Essay Example

Medical Ethics and Abortion of of Introduction Abortions and the need to allow fetuses to go through the entire duration of pregnancies has been a major issue that has divided this country for the past five decades. Whilst some conservatives and religious groups believe it is a sin and a moral wrong to terminate pregnancies, some liberal groups argue that parents, particularly women have the right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy or not. This paper is a position paper that examines the issue of abortion from the medical sense. To this end, the paper will reflect on the writer’s personal views on what the health care profession’s legal and moral stance should be on abortions. A Critical View of Abortions In order to pass an opinion on abortions, there is the need to understand it as a concept in order to review it and make meaning out of it in relation to medical ethics. There are natural abortions which are caused by the failure of a woman’s womb to carry a fetus (Steinberg, 2013). Induced abortions on the other hand involve some kind of roles that are played by a medical health professional in order to terminate the pregnancy. This is a process that comes with major ethical concerns and ethical issues. This is because there are therapeutic abortions that are performed legally, usually to preserve the life of the mother whilst there are criminal abortions which are forbidden by the law (Steinberg, 2013). Induced Abortions and the Hippocratic Oath The physician oath fundamentally kicks against induced abortions. And a section states that “… I will never give a potion to a woman nor use any instrument to induce abortions…” (Steinberg, 2013, p. 1). This shows that the medical community has a major moral ethic that stands against inducing abortions through the skills acquired through medical practice. This implies that there is a prima facie issue on the conscience of a medical professional who carries out an abortion. This is fundamentally against his good senses and hence, will prove to be problematic when a medical professional carries out an abortion. The Woman’s Right to an Abortion & The Three Trimesters On the other hand, it is generally acceptable by law for women throughout the United States to opt for an abortion in the first trimester of their pregnancy (Fischer & Oneto, 2011). This implies that women have the right to choose whether to get an abortion or not. And in that case, the medical practitioner might be obliged to help such a woman to carry out such procedures. Failure to help a woman to carry out an abortion could be seen in many ways as an attempt by a medical doctor to abandon his patient. Hence, the medical practitioner might be compelled in one way or the other to do something to help the patient. Therefore, the decision to perform such a procedure on a patient is left to the moral judgment of the medical practitioner. If the medical practitioner deems it appropriate, s/he can go ahead with the abortion. If not, s/he might opt out. It does not seem to be binding on any medical practitioner, except when the patient is in a fatal condition and might die if the abortion is not performed on her. In the second trimester of a pregnancy though, a medical practitioner is under an ethical obligation to perform an abortion under appropriate medical judgment (Runzheimer & Johnson, 2012). This means abortions could be done in the second trimester but it should be done with due care and diligence. In my view, it is unethical for abortions to be conducted in the third trimester because the baby is fully developed at that stage and could live if born after the 6th month. Hence, it is not acceptable for such a pregnancy to be terminated by a medical practitioner. Such situations will call for ethical considerations to be put in place because the baby is formed at that point and the mother’s physical and emotional health could be jeopardized if she sees such an episode. This is because the baby might be alive after the abortion and there might be the need to kill it, which can be said to be murder in the technical sense. Reasons Behind Abortion As identified above, an abortion instruction given to a health care professional in the first three months can be carried out irrespective of the reason for the request. However, if an abortion decision is presented after three months, the choice forms a basis for an ethical decision and an ethical choice. In cases where the choice is aesthetic and/or based on some selfish reasons like sex preference of the fetus and other matters, a medical practitioner could morally turn down the request (Padilla, 2009). Therefore, if a healthcare professional finds it to be a bit out of scope, that professional could decline to take part in the induced abortion process. This is because the reason might not merit the moral worth and moral standard since pregnancies over three months are somewhat consolidated and could be considered to be human since it often has some human features. On the other hand, in cases where the life of the mother is threatened and where the pregnancy is as a result of rape, a healthcare professional will need to examine the relevant evidence and from there, take part in the procedure (Giersson & Holmgren, 2013). Therefore a professional must act on the basis of his conscience and ensure that the facts of the case merit an abortion procedure. Conclusion By default, the Hippocratic Oath provides a framework that limits a medical or healthcare professional from taking part in induced abortions. Legally, a healthcare professional is barred from taking part in what is considered to be a criminal abortion. What is criminal is based on the law. Criminal abortions include abortions that endanger the life of the mother due to the fact that it is in the advanced stages. On the other hand, some abortions are not criminal but due to their nature, it is better for a healthcare professional to stay away from them because they are amoral. This includes pregnancies that are in the second trimester or more and pregnancy terminations that are based on flimsy and unacceptable reasons. This is a moral decision and must be taken on the basis of the moral standing of the medical and healthcare practitioner. Bibliography Fischer, C., & Oneto, C. (2011). Kaplan Medical USMLE Medical Ethics. New York: Kaplan Publishing. Giersson, H., & Holmgren, M. (2013). Ethical Theory: A Concise Anthology. New York: Broadview Press. Padilla, R. (2009). Medical Ethics. London: Rex Bookstore. Runzheimer, J., & Johnson, L. (2012). Introduction to Medical Ethics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publishing. Steinberg, A. (2013). Encyclopedia of Jewish Medical Ethics: A Compilation of Jewish Medical Law. New York: Feldheim Press. Read More