Ethical Issues In Abortion Essay

Ethics is a systematic and critical analysis of morality, of the moral factors that guide human conduct in a particular society or practice and it plays a significant role in today’s society (Office of Director General, 2005). Different types of ethics can be applied to various issues to decide whether it is morally right or wrong. The focus of this report will be the ethical issue of abortion. The issue of abortion is an ongoing debate asking whether it is morally right to terminate a pregnancy; some think abortion is always wrong; whereas, others think that there is a range of circumstance in which abortion is morally acceptable. The issue will be considered from the philosophical framework of Situation Ethics. Catholic Social Teachings consider the issue of abortion unethical. In regards to Situation ethics the most loving thing to do would be to look out for the mothers’ wellbeing, and to prioritise the mother over the foetus. …show more content…
Firstly, it can exclude most universal moral truths such as “Thou shall not kill” and it is not clear what “love” means so it can be difficult to implement. In some circumstances it might be difficult for the mother to decide what the most loving outcome is so it may be challenging to implement as it poses the questions of what rights does the foetus deserve and what rights does the mother have over a growing foetus. Additionally, this type of ethics can’t produce consistent results as depending on the situation, abortion could be seen as both the most loving thing to do and it can be seen as not loving at all. Furthermore, situation ethics may approve of evil acts as in some situations this type of ethics can permit a person to carry out acts that are generally regarded as bad if those acts lead to a sufficiently good result. For example, the termination of an unborn foetus may be seen as killing but if it is the best option long term it could be