During the eighth week we learnt about several current issues which have an ethical dilemma. Some of these issues are because of science and development. These issues have their positives and their negatives. Depending on someone’s situation, he/she may opt to resort to one of these acts. The acts are; abortion, suicide, surrogate motherhood, cloning and euthanasia. I’ll discuss on abortion and suicide according to my knowledge about them and on my own point of view.
Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or an embryo. Abortion can only be said if the action was done intentionally. Otherwise, if the expulsion happened unintentionally, it is termed as miscarriage. Abortion is not quite contemporary, it has been there since a long time ago, induced abortion has a long history and has been facilitated by various methods including herbal abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools and other traditional methods. The reasons why women have abortions are diverse and vary dramatically across the world.
Some of the most common reasons are to postpone childbearing to a more suitable time or to focus energies and resources on existing children. Others include being unable to afford a child either in terms of the direct costs of raising a child or the loss of income while she is caring for the child, lack of support from the father, inability to afford additional children, desire to provide schooling for existing children, disruption of one’s own education, relationship problems with their partner, a perception of being too young to have a child, unemployment, and not being willing to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest, among others. I see abortion as unethical, illogical and unlawful except in a very few situations; If the fetus will endanger the mother’s health. Committing abortion because one can’t take care of the expenses is wrong. That person should’ve avoided any risky sexual activities in the first place. Also, she can give the child to those who are unfortunate and can’t bear a child.
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. If one succeeds, then it is called suicide. If he/she doesn’t succeed, it is called attempted suicide. There are many reasons as to why a person may commit suicide. Suicide is often committed out of psychiatric disorder, drug abuse, family and social situations, financial situations such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness and discrimination. I am against suicide no matter what the reason. One shouldn’t give up easily and just take his own life. If the suicidal person bears more patience, things may get better.
Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed
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