Case Study on Moral Status Essay

Case Study on Moral Status Essay

Christian view

The Christian faith views humans as beings made in the image of God and His representatives on earth. In fact, humans are the perfect image of God and that Christ was the incarnation of God that united the divine with humans. These sentiments are also reflected in creation where God fashioned Adam (the first human) in His image and blew air into his nostrils to give him a breath of life. The implication is that the life of God is infused into every progeny of Adam (all humans). This solemn and sublime yet delicate creation act heralds the extraordinary reality that all humans live by the whim of God as the Creator. In addition, it is clear that humans have the capacity for God in them thereby allowing them to have a higher capacity for thought process and dominion over other creations. This Christian awareness clarifies that humans are intrinsically linked to God and the earth. Given this awareness, then it is not hard to accept that as God holds dominion over humans and is not oppressive, humans should similarly practice restraint and not be oppressive to other humans and creations thereby mirroring God. It is evident that the Christian view of the nature of human persons offers five aspects presented as: social nature of humans; equal dignity of all persons; freedom of all persons; and openness to uniqueness and transcendence of every human. To be more precise, every human is entitled to equal intrinsic human value and dignity (Heinrichs, Oser & Lovat, 2013). Case Study on Moral Status Essay

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The Christian view of the nature of human person persons is compatible with the Christian virtue ethics. This theory targets achieving the highest human good through adopting the reality that every human person is ontologically rooted in the grace of God through creation. It is drawn on the tripartite division of love, hope and faith, and the ontological focus on the quality of love as a virtue in unity with and relation to virtues of power and justice as practiced in the pursuit of supreme goodness. The sentiments presented in the theory are based on the notion that Christians have a future beyond death and this future is shaped by their present life existence to imply that the futurity directs them to do good in order to experience good after death (Yiu & Vorster, 2013).

Moral status of fetus

Jessica seeks financial independence and a good future that can only be achieved if she does not have the baby. In addition, she believes that every human life is valuable and should be protected even if there is a possibility of the resultant child developing downs syndrome that would diminish his/her quality of life. She opts to keep the pregnancy since she is of the opinion that life is sacred and valuable. Overall, she adopts a pro-life attitude. She ascribes to the ‘theory of sacredness of life’ in which all humans have an inherent and equal value that cannot be violated. Through applying the theory, it is argued that the fetus is a human being that has life that has been given by God and His sacredness should be respected by allowing the life to proceed as God intended (Rasekh, 2016).

Marco expresses worry about the financial burden associated with taking care of the baby should he/she develop Down syndrome. Also, he is unsure about his decision since the possibility of Down syndrome has been presented at 25%, a low statistical possibility. Still, he expresses the opinion that the fetus is not yet human and has no right to make decisions. Rather, the decision about whether or not the pregnancy should be terminated should be based on what is best for the mother considering that the child would financially burden her, and what is best for the baby considering that he/she could have Down syndrome. Marcos arguments are based on the theory of investment that adopts a pro-choice attitude in which abortion is considered as an option if the baby and mother’s quality of life could be reduced if the pregnancy comes to term. The theory holds that question about abortion as an options should be considered from the perspective of amount of investment and its value. The child has a possibility of developing Down syndrome and it will be expensive to take care of the child (Rasekh, 2016).

Maria expresses the opinion that an abortion should not be considered under any circumstance since Jessica has responsibilities as a mother. Maria argues from the perspective that parents have an inherent responsibility to protect their children and that this responsibility cannot be neglected under any circumstance, to include when the child is sick and will be expensive to take care of. Maria applied the theory of person or conscious entity whereby all constituent elements of the issues are attended to include the fetus, parents, value of investment, life and freedom. In applying the theory, Maria considers that the fetus has no voice and the mother should act as his/her voice (Rasekh, 2016). Case Study on Moral Status Essay

Dr. Wilson does not express much of an opinion. Rather, the doctor objectively presents information and presents abortion as an option in addressing the implications of the child developing Down syndrome. The doctor applies the theory of free-will that adopts a pro-choice attitude that views abortion liberally as an option that can be explored (Rasekh, 2016).

Off the theories that have been discussed, the theory of person or conscious entity is most applicable. In applying the theory, the parties involved should make an effort to sufficiently attend to all the constituent elements of Down syndrome as a problem. This should include the right of the fetus to life, religion, expected costs, freedom of the mother, and social and financial aids that can be explored to help the parents in taking care of the child. Through applying the theory, the final decision would consider ethical, ideological and religious value judgements, as well as entanglement between emotions and facts (Rasekh, 2016).

References

Heinrichs, K., Oser, F. & Lovat, T. (2013). Handbook of moral motivation: theories, models, and applications. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Rasekh M. (2016). Battle of life: a brief study of theories on abortion. Journal of Reproduction & Infertility, 4(3), 220-236.

Yiu, S. & Vorster, J. (2013). The goal of Christian virtue ethics: from ontological foundation and covenant relationship to the Kingdom of God. In Skriflig (Online),.47(1). Retrieved from http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2305-08532013000100065

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Case Study on Moral Status Essay