Abortion Due to Birth Defect

Fetal Abnormality The author of this report has been asked to assess a case study that is quite tragic and challenging. Indeed, Jessica and Marco are about to have a child but they discover that the child has no arms and possibly possesses Down Syndrome. The recommended action by the doctor is termination of the pregnancy due to the quality of life the child will not have and the impacts that will be rendered on the parents in terms of economic and other burdens.

However, there are several ethical issues that pop up along the way including the doctor being able to notify Jessica despite Marco's misgivings, the viewpoint of both Jessica and Aunt Maria to not abort the child and Marco's general stance that he'll honor either choice while also thinking that keeping the baby will create a lot of obligations and challenges. Summary The first question for this assignment asks the author what theory or theories are in play when it comes to Jessica, Marco, Maria and Dr. Wilson.

Jessica and Marco are both torn in their own ways. Jessica is torn between her religion (and the pressure of her aunt) and the socioeconomic implications. Marco is torn between the latter of those two as well as what Jessica would want to do. Maria and the doctor are much more singular in their viewpoints. Maria is only looking at the religious and morality aspect of things while the doctor is looking at things through the "greater good" and what is most medically and economically human given the circumstances (Utilitarian, 2015).

The doctor feels that the child would have no quality of life to speak of and thus allowing the child to be born would be inhumane. Maria believes the exact opposite and believes all life is sacred and must be preserved. Marco and Maria are torn in between in their own ways. The viewpoint of the doctor is one of compassion, economic realities and quality of life. The child, if born, will not live a pleasant life and the parents do not have the means to support the child (Howe, 2014).

They would barely have those means if the child were healthy. Maria is ignoring all of that and is apparently acting under the premise that an abortion would be murder and/or otherwise immoral. Marco and Jessica are taking all of the factors into account and are thus torn about what to do because there are obvious downsides to each answer. Conclusion In terms of what the author of this report feels, the doctor is making the right call.

A child with no arms and possibly with Down Syndrome is going to.