Abortion Restrictions: Teleological And Deontological Arguments (Essay Sample)

Abortion Restrictions Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Abortion Restrictions The United States of America’s government through an Act of parliament prohibited abortion by blocking any tax payer’s money from funding the processes in the country. An example of such an organization is Planned Parenthood that provides, among many things, abortion services. This proposal has led to diverse opinions among health stakeholders and the citizens in general who want to know the fate of the women. This paper analyses the controversy concerning this issue that has led to several legal actions from bodies such as the Supreme Court during the era of President Regan. Relevance This article is relevant to my life because matters of health are very crucial to any person’s life. Abortion also is an important fundamental issue. To me, I have female relatives and friends who would seek advice from me in matters regarding abortion. Thus through this article, I will be able to give clear and right guidance. Also, I will one day have a family, and family planning is a vital issue. Thus, this article is important and relevant to me as it gives me insights into these very sensitive issues. Controversy The controversy in this article is brought about by the two sides: the government and the reproductive health organizations, e.g. Planned Parenthood. The controversy is all about the guidelines in Title X, the regulation that formed the family planning initiative in all federal states. The rule banned direct financing of abortion. However, organizations that perform abortion, e.g. Planned Parenthood, use these funds to lower other health services for women. These other services include providing birth control and also carrying out cancer screening. The proposal is an important priority for social conservatives who support President Trump (Davis, 2018). The proposal is going to make it hard for reproductive-health providers to do both abortions and provide other health services. The United States of America’s government argues that to qualify for Title X money (Federal Family Planning program devoted to providing family planning and health amenities), an organization must have a physical and financial separation between family planning services where abortion is referred, performed, or supported. In her press brief, White House press secretary mentioned that the proposal is aimed at improving women’s health and at making sure that the federal money is not used to fund abortion. This, she says, is a violation of the law. On the other hand, reproductive health organizations, e.g. Planned Parenthood, say that the proposal will essentially block these organizations from receiving Title X funding. In contrast, it will deny a big amount of women all over the U.S. access to primary care, including contraceptives, cancer, and screenings of sexually transmitted diseases. Planned Parenthood has taken a stand that the organization will not cease providing abortion as part of its health operations. The organization’s group, executive vice president and chief executive say that it is an effort to infringe women’s elementary and reproductive civil rights. Other Views Other social conservative activists who agreed to the proposal say that these reproductive health organizations will have to pick between letting go their abortion facilities from every site, getting federal funds and taking the operations away from their clinics. This proposal has significant consequences though. This is because Planned Parenthood serves nearly 41 percent of women. An analysis showed that Planned Parenthood serves at least half of women in two-thirds of the 491 counties they operate in. Another analysis by Guttmacher Institute discovered that without these Organizations (Planned Parenthood), it would be difficult for other providers to come up and absorb these 41 percent of women. Therefore, the largest effects would be felt by women who do not have health coverage. But taking away the Title X money will not destroy Planned Parenthood because nearly all of the federal money they get come from Medicaid. The proposal is modelled on the domestic gag rule, which was shaped in the Reagan era. The domestic gag rule was different from this proposal, as the gag rule prevented Title X Organizations from stating abortion as a choice for pregnant women. Opponents say that though the proposal was a model of the domestic gag rule, it cannot calm any family planning group. They say that health providers will provide women with truths about abortion and that the women will have a choice not to involve in abortion. Thus, the domestic gag rule becomes out-dated and needless. Democrats argue that the results of this proposal are to silence health providers in a similar manner as the domestic gag rule. This is because medical providers will not be able to refer women to facilities that carry out abortions. The proposal would scrap Clinton’s administration requirement that Title X benefactors should give patients data about abortion. Teleological and Deontological Arguments The article above mainly focuses on the bioethics topic of abortion. It discusses about the positives and negatives of abortion based on the key basics of bioethics. Theorists have categorized key ethical theories into two cases: teleological and deontological. The pros and cons of abortion can be discussed, using these theories. Deontological Arguments Deontological ethics, in moral philosophy, is the ethical position that judges the morality of an act based on a set of rules inherent to the world, religion or a certain culture. In this case, a woman will choose not to abort because of rules dictated by a higher power such as God. In Christianity for example, a person is a divine creation, and life is a gift from God. The right to life is based on God. There are some of the existential situations that support the deontological ethics. These situations qualify for abortion and provide solutions for abortion to be avoided. A pregnancy that results from sexual behavior without education and subject to unwarranted economic condition. Due to inadequate or no sex education and means of contraception, youths are liable to unwanted pregnancy. Sexual education among youth is important so as to empower them and also for risk awareness from unprotected sex. The factor that is important in this situation is the family of the pregnant teen. Young girls have a fear of upsetting their parents thus decide to abort. These girls also have no income and are not yet graduated. All these factors push the teenager into aborting. These types of abortion can be avoided by advancing the educational system. It should start with the family and be implemented in schools. The government should also make policies to sustain the young girls in this condition financially. In this situation, it should be settled in favor of the argument in contrast to abortion. The state institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations should have measures so that any woman ending in this situation is supported financially and also has psychological counseling. Misdiagnosis abortions. This is the situation where abortion is carried out because the fetus is seriously ill or has physical or mental malformations. But in this case, it might be found out that after committing an abortion, the baby was perfectly healthy. Christianity recommends the birth of a child even if the fetus is suffering from severe health complications. It bases this case on the fact that every human life is a gift from God. The mother in this circumstance should accept, understand and wait for the ‘gift’. To avoid these situations, therapeutic assessments should be performed perfectly. The whole analysis must be correct and complete and should be repeated so as to cast out any suspicion of errors. Unwanted pregnancy by mother but needed by childless families. In this case, the mother or the natural parent does not want the child, but other families who cannot have children through natural ways wish to adopt the baby. In this way, the mother is set free from the drain of conscience when committing abortion. Also the adoptive families find a solution to their problem. Thus, abortion is avoided, and the child has an opportunity to be born and educated normally. To successfully do this, a computerized system is developed. Infertile families wanting to adopt a child are entered into a database so that they can be easily retrieved by women who do not need children. Respect to deprivation. According to the argument, it is morally unacceptable to abort since the fetus is deprived of a bright future. It is unlawful to kill a human being as he or she is deprived a future of activities, opportunities, and projects. Thus, abortion should not be carried out as it is a breach of the law. Deontological arguments have a big loop-hole in the logic. It relies on the unverified existence of God. Thus, these arguments are often attacked by atheists or scientists who want to have pieces of evidence. Teleological Arguments Teleological arguments are arguments that have a basis of explaining something in terms of its end, consequences, or goals. Thus, when teleologically arguing about abortion, the result or the effects of abortion are considered. There are three existential situations that can help argue about abortion. Pregnancy from rape. In this situation, there is a behavior that leads to shocking effects on the person. No government allows such an action that has consequences of a death penalty or trial in a court of law. There is a high likelihood that the victim will be pregnant. Thus, the child born from such a situation will be born in a very hostile environment. The family will not exist in that the father is a perilous person and the mother is distressed. Therefore, the baby will not receive normal maternal feelings. The mother might choose to abort or wi...