Abortion and the Medical Profession - Essay Example

Issue with an Ethical Implication (Abortion) 06 June Abortion and the Medical Profession Advances in medicaltechnologies now allow Man to sometimes be able to play God. Instances which have ethical issues in them are surrogate motherhood, organ transplants, use of artificial insemination, euthanasia, brain death and even palliative care (end-of-life cases). Perhaps no other issue stirs up heated debates and fierce emotions than that of abortion. It is one of the most contentious issues in society today.

Medical and health care professionals are often put into a serious quandary regarding abortion and their professional practice in regards to their personal and religious beliefs. This issue of abortion clearly has ethical implications for people who want to avail of these surgical procedures and the ones performing them. Like any divisive issue, there are no easy answers to such a sticky emotional issue. In most cases, it all boils down to one’s deeply-held personal beliefs that will determine a stance the person has on a certain issue such as abortion.

Before the landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court passed in the Roe vs. Wade decision, abortion was legal in a few states but illegal in most states of the country. Other countries do likewise have similar ambivalent laws regarding such a basic issue as human life and the right to life of an unborn child. The medical profession forbids the taking of life as contained in its Hippocratic Code. However, there are clearly certain instances in which abortion is justified (based on medical grounds) to be performed such as a threat to the life of the pregnant woman or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Medical professionals performing an abortion such as doctors and the nurses who assist them put themselves into a moral and ethical dilemma (Claire 25). Discussion Doctors and nurses take a solemn pledge to uphold life and maintain it, not take it away as in the case of an abortion no matter how justified this might be (with some very few exceptions allowed). Because of the law upholding a woman’s right to abortion, doctors and nurses often have no choice but to perform an abortion whenever a pregnant woman asks for it and when abortion is justified on medical grounds (during the first trimester and with some restrictions if performed on the second trimester).

It puts them in a moral and ethical dilemma that goes against medical bio-ethics but they still have to do it since they are the ones who are qualified to perform abortions in a safe and aseptic manner. The nursing code of ethics does not allow for abortions and yet nurses are required to assist the doctors who perform abortion. The American Medical Association has also taken an official stance against the taking of life (AMA 1) and yet most doctors perform abortions on a regular basis as a routine procedure.

Conclusion Medical personnel, besides facing their own professional dilemmas, also have to face or contend with their personal values and religious beliefs. People who are conservative will not perform abortions and turn down these requests while others oppose abortion on religious grounds if they belong to a conservative sect or denomination that puts high value on life. A trend today is the increasing number of abortions on unwed women who are often underage. Together with the easy availability of contraceptive methods, abortions erode a nation’s moral fabric as people no longer put a premium or value on human life.

Teenagers who will opt for abortions have long-term implications on demographics as no younger generation emerges from this practice. Medical professionals who perform abortions become a group of jaded people; the effect of abortions on them may not be immediate. Political and religious leaders are aware of an increasing trend and it should matter to them as it destroys society (Rae 3). Works Cited American Medical Association (AMA). AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics. 2010. Web. 30 May 2011. Claire, Miriam.

The Abortion Dilemma: Personal Views on a Public Issue. New York, NY, USA: Insight Books, 1995. Print. Rae, Scott. Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics. Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Zondervan Books, 2009. Print.