Ethical Dilemma Essay PDF

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In the ethical dilemma chosen, Susan is pregnant with a child. She has recently found out this baby is going to have down syndrome, and her doctor recommended she abort the baby. She asked for the advice of a possible friend named Richard, who is a professor of evolutionary biology, and he also reco...

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1 Course CWV 101 Date 11-24-2019 Instructor James Waddell

Benchmark - Ethical Dilemmas Everyone gets some sort of dilemma in their lives. Some are small, like choosing your outfit, or forgetting where you put your keys. But it’s the bigger dilemmas we all have issues with; do we tell our friend they’re being cheated on? Will you keep that $20 you saw that woman drop? They all differ, some stronger than others, and some of them are more obvious than some. Sometimes it’s hard to choose the right path, even when we know what the right decisions are. I will be discussing a few key words involving ethical dilemma. Ethical Dilemma In the ethical dilemma chosen, Susan is pregnant with a child. She has recently found out this baby is going to have down syndrome, and her doctor recommended she abort the baby. She asked for the advice of a possible friend named Richard, who is a professor of evolutionary biology, and he also recommended she abort. He even went so far as to say that it might even be immoral to keep the baby. Susan is conflicted. Core Beliefs God handcrafts his children and loves them all equally. And the bible definitely does say not to kill another person. But the bible also says that "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follows, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . ."(1)

2 What that’s telling me is that you will be punished or even killed for killing someone, but only punished for killing the baby. The bible also says that life begins at birth. There are no actual verses on abortion specifically. Yes, we have verses saying not to kill man, but if life begins at birth, some could argue that the abortion would be doable. Now that being said, God loves all of his children, and he creates them for a purpose. Some could argue that God created that baby to have Down Syndrome for a reason, that he has a path for that baby. Resolution A lot of Christians I know do not like the idea of abortion. They believe that abortion is just killing a baby, and it’s murder. Even though the bible has no verses regarding abortion, and life begins at birth, they don’t look at those verses, instead they focus on the “Thou shall not kill” commandment. A resolution for the Christian worldview would be to carry the baby full term, and either keep the child, which is more putting up with it than a resolution, or put them up for adoption. In this scenario, I think it depends on who you ask. You could use bible verses to both defend and speak against abortion. Now my opinion is that having a baby with down syndrome really isn’t too bad, depending on the scale. Just because he has down syndrome doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily suffer. I don’t think she should get the abortion. I think she should either keep the baby or adopt out. Evaluation There are most definitely consequences and benefits to this scenario. If she were to keep the baby, she could possibly be burdened with a task she never wanted. She’d have to become this childs personal caretaker for life possibly. She’s a successful woman, but she would no longer be able to commit to her career. Her career might essentially be out the window. If she adopts the baby out, she’ll have to carry this unwanted baby to full term. She’ll endure labor

3 pains, she could even have complications during labor. And if she aborts, she could possibly ruin her chances of getting pregnant again. Some studies suggest a possible link between pregnancy termination and an increased risk of premature birth and low birth weight (2). And not only that, but a lot of women get backlash due to abortions. But on the other hand, if she aborts, her career will continue. She could have another shot to have a baby, as well. I can’t think of another pro of having an abortion. Whether she truly wants the abortion or not, she’ll still have to deal with the mental guilt of abortion. Comparison Abortion is an extremely sensitive topic all over the globe, it all boils down to opinion in most cases. Atheists don’t have the Christian aspects to skew their opinions, neither does scientism. However, a lot of people think it’s immoral to kill an unborn baby. Roughly, scientism is the view that the hard sciences—like chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy—provide the only genuine knowledge of reality (3). They do not believe in God, only the science behind everything. Conclusion Abortion will always be a heated debate amongst everyone, no matter the religion. I personally don’t think Susan should jump to abortion, I think she needs to make the decision for herself. Down Syndrome isn’t something to abort for in my opinion. But speaking in a Christian worldview standpoint, she shouldn’t have the abortion regardless of how the baby is born, regardless if he suffers or not. God loves his children, and I guess he makes them all for a reason, regardless if they are born in pain, etc. People say that God makes everyone for a reason.

4 References Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. Retrieved from url/permalink with hyperlink removed

1. Ex. 21:22-25 2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/expert-answers/abortion/faq20058551 3. https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-is-scientism/ 4....