Abortion due to rape or/and incest - Essay Example

 Abortion due to rape or/and incest Introduction Rape entails sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, which is started by an individual against another with no the consent of that other person. Rape can happen to both men and women. However, rape on women attracts significant and heated debate around the globe due to chances of a woman getting pregnant as a result of rape. People of all walks of life including policy makers, religious people, ethicists and the general public all have varying opinions with regards to ethics in abortion as a result of rape and incest. Rape and abortion are sensitive topics from nursing, moral and religious points of view. Rape is a traumatic and horrible experience in the life of any person who has gone through its dignity. Whether a woman should abort a baby arising from incest and abortion; is an intricate question (Maurer & Smith, 2012). The reason is that the woman has to bear the memory of the rape incident, and also carry a baby that is the result of the rape. Pro-abortion views For many people, the rape and incest exception is a means to shun facing what occurred to a woman they may know. Advocates of abortion for rape victims hold that by destroying the baby can make the woman pretend as if the assault never happened. Others advocate that by getting rid of that child will ease a woman’s post traumatic experience. The reason is that every time a woman sees the child, the horrendous rape experience comes lingers their memory. Pregnancy is a concrete reminder what the woman went through, and forces a discussion of a topic that the woman victim would prefer to keep hidden. Even people who are otherwise opposed to abortion on demand feel that they are being compassionate by admitting that the raped woman ought to be allowed to have an abortion. Because no one wants to be raped and assaulted sexually, supporters of abortion due to rape believe that rape victims would want to terminate the pregnancy as a reminder of the rape. Anti-abortion views Other people oppose abortion for rape victims on grounds of moral and religious grounds. Kaczor (2013) notes that although rape is an awful experience; abortion cannot undo what has been done in a rape. He notes that abortion does not even castigate the rapist for what he did. Instead, abortion destroys a guiltless being, and also puts the life of the woman in danger, putting in mind the psychological risks involved. Lee (2010) note that abortion is an injustice to the unborn child, and having an abortion is likely to intensify mental and emotional problems of the pregnant woman due to rape. Lee further asserts that abortion is a highly traumatic experience from both pro and anti-abortion accounts, and it is unlikely to assist the emotional state of affairs of a woman seeking to recuperate from the dreadful rape violence. The conscience that one has put to an end a developing life within herself does not cohere well with the rest of the psyche of most women. Pro-life action league (nd) holds that rape victims who end up being pregnant view the baby as the only good thing coming from the horrific experience. Schwarz (2010) highlights that abortion by rape victims results in short term and long term devastating effects. According to Schwarz, women who have aborted after a rape incident experience negative effects on their lives, which are worse that the sexual assault. Women report that their abortions are degrading kind of medical rape as it entails a painful intrusion into a woman’s sexual organs. As such, abortion heightens the traumatic feelings related to rape. Instead of easing the psychological burdens of the woman victim, abortions ads to them. For these reasons, rape and incest do not sufficiently lay moral grounds for abortion. Personal view points Abortion entails getting rid of an innocent life growing inside a woman’s womb. From a personal point of view, I would consider various concerns of both the mother and child. In the case that the life of both the mother and the child are alright, I would consider abortion as ethically and religiously wrong. From a Christian point of view, the bible disallows killing in the book of exodus 20:13. The verse is the fifth commandment that says “Thou shalt not kill”. The commandments are of fundamental significance and killing is considered the greatest injury to another person. The fifth commandment explicitly states that one should not murder, and therefore abortion is religiously wrong as it disregards the commandments that govern human beings. Whilst regrettably, rape once committed cannot be undone, the rationalizations of rape are never so utterly rebuffed as when a person chooses life in the most complicated situations, situations that make such a option valiant. While a man undermines the freedom of a woman in rape, a woman nurtures life, and makes a gift of her to great benefit of another by not aborting. The significance of Abortion due to rape or/and incest to nursing Since conception does not take place immediately after the intercourse, pregnancy may be prevented in all cases of rape. This is if the victim of rape receives immediate treatment by having all the male semen eliminated from her uterus. In relation to nursing, there are two kinds of abortions; intentional killing and non intentional. Abortion as an Intentional killing arises when a woman presents herself to a physician and wishes to end the pregnancy for some reason or no reason at all (Naden, 2007). Abortion as an unintentional killing arises when a woman’s life is in looming danger. In this instance, the life saving act will be intended for correcting pathology, and not the death of the unborn being or pregnancy termination. Emerging dynamics with regards to abortion on nursing practice Nurses encounter abortion as an ethical principle because nurses have to assess the degree to which they consider that can personally participate in the abortion procedure. A nurse has the right to refuse to be engaged in abortion procedures depending on one’s ethical beliefs. Employment in a certain section may rest on a nurse’s willingness and capacity to help and provide conscientious care to the patient who had an abortion (Butts & Rich, 2012). The issue of pregnancy is considered as a woman’s choice. As such, a woman may present herself to a physician asking for termination of pregnancy or induced abortion. There have also been contentions as to what age of the fetus marks the beginning of life. Some contend that the fetus has no life until the 17th week while others contend that the human life of the fetus starts at the 7th month of pregnancy when the nervous system is entirely developed (Ellis & Hartley, 2004). The age of viability is less clear as it once appeared, and this is really challenging for doctors and the health professionals. Abortion issue is also complicated by consent problems, especially for teenagers. Different legislation in different countries is also a dynamic issue as some states have legislated special exceptions. Nurses have to be concerned of all these dynamics. References Butts, J.B. & Karen Rich, K. (2012). Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Ellis, J.R. & Hartley, C.L. (2004). Nursing in Today's World: Trends, Issues, and Management. Maryland: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins press. Kaczor, C. (2013). The Ethics of Abortion: Women's Rights, Human Life, and the Question of Justice. UK: Taylor & Francis press. Lee, P. (2010). Abortion and Unborn Human Life, Second Edition. Washington: CUA Press. Maurer, F.A. & Smith, C.M. (2012). Community/Public Health Nursing Practice: Health for Families and Populations. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences press. Naden, C.J. (2007). Abortion. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish press. PRO-LIFE ACTION LEAGUE, (nd). Abortions for victims of rape and incest. Retrieved on 25 June 2013 from< http://prolifeaction.org/docs/RapeAbortion.pdf>. Schwarz, S.D. (2011). Understanding Abortion: From Mixed Feelings to Rational Thought. Maryland: Lexington Books press. Read More