Question

Nancy is a 35-year-old married librarian with a daughter who is 7 years old. Earlier, at the age of 18, she had an abortion during the first months of pregnancy. Now at the age of 35, she finds herself pregnant again. She is advised that her amniocentesis and alpha feta protein markers indicate that her child may be at high risk of Down's Syndrome. Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) is where cells are taken from the placenta and used to analyze the fetal chromosomes also indicates that her child is at high risk of Down's Syndrome. Nancy finds the decision to abort difficult because she feels differently about abortion having previously gone through one. Although she still believes that women have a right to have an abortion, she no longer feels abortion is right for her. Please respond to each of the following questions in your essay: a. Can Nancy be consistent in believing that abortion is morally permissible for women in general but not for herself at this time? b. Should Nancy's counselor urge her to have an abortion? c. Should the father of the child (her husband) have a say in Nancy's decision? d. Nancy's counselor asked whether it would be more difficult for her to terminate the pregnancy or raise the child with Down's syndrome. If you were in Nancy's position, would this question be the most important for you? If so why would it be important? If not, which question is most important for you? e. If abortion is tolerated socially, should there be a limit on the number and/or type of abortions a woman has? For example, would it make a difference if Nancy is in the second trimester when she learns of the amniocentesis and CVS results? How would such limits on abortion be defined and enforced without violating personal privacy?

Answer 1

a.Nancy at this time is emotionally and physically disturbed due yo her previous experience of abortion.A mother has the full rights to continue or terminate a pregnancy either in case of a healthy or unhealthy baby. Though abortion makes an ethical concern of killing a life, it makes one feel ethical in case the child is going to survive a deadly disease and pain throughout their life.Nancy to be consistent at this tinebis not apt.

b.No medical professionals can comple a mother to undergo an abortion but it is the duty of the healthcare professionals to inform the status and give the choice of best option to be decided by the mother or parents

c.The father of the child can play an effective part in making understand the real scenario before and after birth of a baby to Nancy,support her psychologically. If they have a strong will power ,financial strength to grow a baby like this then they may continue otherwise explaining to the husband at this stage will be beneficial in most cases.He should be a part in Nancy's decision

d.This question is one of the most important one because it can enable one to distinguish between two aspects (suffering for few days to months if aborted)or (life long suffering by seeing the child's growth and developmental delays) A normal child can be grown with no great expenditures but an unhealthy child is different and to be cared in each and every aspects ,may cause medical expenditure frequently, differently abled  school, social stigma etc., So raising this question makes one think into future and make a decision

e.So far there is no limits in this number but the obstetricians warn if a women undergoes repeated abortions and if it can endanger her life.The type of abortion is a concern in second trimester. In second trimester the fetus has grown so termination will be difficult, it has to be done in a hospital set up and may need an instrumentation to remove the fetus. It can defined by the ill effects of a child born after 35 ,and other varied reasons shich can cost the life of mother ,health education, proper prenatal screenings and follow up can be enforced to maintain a personal privacy.