Fetal Abnormality Case Studies

Case Study: Fetal Abnormality The case study reviewed for this paper included several people with different understanding of moral status. A moral status takes into consideration which type of beings or entities have rights. Value and worth is another way to describe and evaluate moral status. There are different philosophies of moral status including sentience, this relates that to have moral status a being needs the ability to have a conscious experience, and have the capacity to feel pleasure and pain (Sebo, n.d.). Human beings are considered to have moral status simply by the virtue of being a human being (Grand Canyon University, 2017).
Dr. Wilson
Dr. Wilson is seeing Jessica the patient for the first time and she is pregnant. Due to insurance and socioeconomic problems, Jessica who is 30 years old, has not had any pre-natal care. Dr. Wilson conducts a preliminary ultra sound which indicates a possible abnormality with the fetus. Additional scans are done and reveal that the fetus has a rare condition in which it has not developed any arms and most likely will not develop arms. Additionally, there is a 25% chance that the fetus may have Down syndrome.
Dr. Wilson …show more content…
Additionally, there are support groups for parents who have children with Down syndrome. A social worker could assist the family with local community resources and see if there is any financial assistance. Children with Down syndrome have different medical needs and it will be important to help educate Jessica and Marco about their choices, should they choose to go through the pregnancy and keep the baby. Giving Jessica and Marco the time needed to process this information and offering additional information if needed for them to have a clear understanding as to their choices. Discussing their religious beliefs would be an important part of this process and having a clear understanding of what their beliefs