Ethical Issues in Adoption versus Abortion (Essay Sample)

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Ethical Issues in Adoption versus Abortion
According to Mason, adoption is a legal, social and emotional process that revolves around children who will not be raised by their birth parents; therefore becoming full, legal and permanent members of another family. Therefore, adoption involves the rights of three separate members: the birth parents, the child, and the adoptive parents. Moreover, the process is permanent and cannot be reversed. The ethical issues in adoption change over time since children who were once adopted become adults and may want to know their genetic identity and the history of their origin. In this regard, people working in adoption agencies should act ethically and safeguard the rights of everyone involved in the process. Primarily, professionals in adoption agencies have to be sensitive and aware of the extreme stress that birth parents are under as they seek information on adoption. The professionals have to be clear when giving out information about the options available for the child. Moreover, they should determine the benefits and drawbacks of each option they choose and give enough time for the parents to weigh the options (Fox & Johnston 2). Should the birth parents decide to place the baby for adoption, they should have extensive knowledge of the avenues for adoption, that is, agencies that do this work (Fox & Johnston 2). In addition, they should be adequately briefed on the psychological and developmental issues that are the norm in the adoption lifecycle (Fox & Johnston 2). Moreover, they should know about their legal rights. Fox and Johnston also argue that the father should know his rights in the adoption process (4). In most international adoptions, adoption agencies capitalize on the countries’ problems to force or convince birth parents to place their children up for adoption (Fox & Johnston, pp.4). In some countries like China, the one child per family policy has led to parents making adoption plans for their female children since they perceive males to be more valuable than girls (Fox & Johnston 4). Some agencies go as far as paying teenage children to get pregnant and place their children up for adoption (Fox & Johnston 4). As professionals, it is important to educate birth parents about the lifelong issues pertaining to adoption that will afflict them in future. To begin with, the family will continuously feel a sense of loss as the child left the family. They also feel rejection towards themselves because of overriding feelings of irresponsibility and unworthiness. The family feels guilty for having placed their child up for adoption. In addition, they continually experience grief since they do not have a mourning ritual to accompany the placement. This awful experience might go on for the rest of their lives as they have not gone through the stages of grief (Reamer & Siegel 6). Reuniting of a child with their birth parents is not guaranteed unless the child wants to make contact with the parents. When either of the two parties seeks to make a reconnection, they involve the services of professionals. The event can have an emotional toll on either of them, and it is, therefore, better when they seek the help of professionals in adoption processes (Fox & Johnston 2). On the other hand, some couples choose to abort a fetus before having to face difficult choices regarding whether to keep the baby or place it for adoption later in life. To fully understand the abortion debate, one ought to comprehend when a fetus becomes a person. At what stage in the development of a baby can the fetus be regarded as a person? An opposing question to this can also be posed (D. H, pp.1). Does the pregnant woman have a right to determine whether to carry the baby to term or not? Should her will and opinion be regarded in determining whether the child lives or not?The arguments posed concerning abortion include premises that the fetus is an innocent person. Moreover, advocates here state that it is morally wrong to end the life of an innocent person. Therefore, they conclude that ending the life of a fetus is morally wrong (Hinman 14). Most of the arguments for and against abortion are centered on the first premise; that is, whether the fetus can be described as a person or not. If the fetus is deemed a person, then it has rights belonging to a person, which include the right to life. Personhood is the bridge that links the fetus with the right to live (Hinman 15). A woman has the right to privacy (Hinman 25). This right is specified in Roe v. Wade; it stipulates that her decision should be based purely on her opinion. Furthermore, a woman has rights to ownership of her body, as well as the right to equal treatment (Hinman 25). Since men cannot be pregnant, the decision weighs heavily on the woman since the fetus grows in her. The woman has a right to self-determination (Hinman, pp. 25). She has the option of deciding what to do about her life and what to make of herself in the future. Moreover, according to Meckstroth, it is morally repulsive to force a woman to have a child against her will. It would, however, improve matters if the decision to abort came from both parents. Meckstroth also states that, although the woman is the ultimate judge on whether to abort the fetus or not, the father should be given a chance to voice his view on the issue. There are various reasons given by women who want to have an abortion. According to a study conducted by Hinman, 74% of the women stated that they can abort because it’s a responsibility to other individuals (Hinman 9). 73% argued that they wanted to have an abortion b...