The editorial points out that their ruling "does not save a single fetus because physicians could instead use a standard D&E method" (LifeEthics.org).
It is interesting that the Court did not offer an exception to their rule; if they had been actually concerned about the life of a pregnant woman who may die due to the deformity of her unborn baby, they would have provided a corollary to their decision. It would read something like, "Except in cases where the mother's life is threatened." But no, the Court was following their right wing political agenda and ruling against a late-term abortion, forgetting the possibility that a pregnant mother might die without a late-term abortion.
Support for the Court's ethics: Gregory Koukl is in the dark as to why "so many mothers, doctors, senators, Members of Congress" accept partial-birth abortions ("…this barbaric practice"). Koukl asserts that a partial-birth abortion is "not really abortion; it's infanticide. It's the killing of an innocent human child outside his mother's body, often solely because of the baby's handicap" (Stand to Reason). Koukl dips into the ethical realm when he explains that "Ethics makes a distinction between two kinds of slippery slopes. The 'casual slipper slope" is like a line of dominoes falling… an action that might be morally benign in itself, leads to something that's immoral, casting a shadow on the first" (Stand to Reason). Nowhere in his essay does Koukl mention a woman's right to life if her unborn child is dead or dying and her life might be in jeopardy if the child is born. He is assuming every partial-birth abortion is done because the child might be retarded and mom just doesn't want to deal with it. He is flat wrong.
What moral decision would I recommend?
Meanwhile...
Well, for Tammy Watts and Vikki Stella, there was nothing vague about their
health crises. I take the position that the moral principles here are twofold: a) Principle of Respect for Autonomy (the capacity for self-determination; a woman who is told she may die if she has her child, has the right to self-determination in this respect); and b) Principle of Least Harm (a person should choose to do that which causes the least harm; aborting a dying fetus to save the life of the mother is doing the least amount of harm).
Works Cited
Abernethy, Bob. "
Supreme Court Ruling on Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act." Religion & Ethics. Retrieved June 29, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org.
Koukl, Gregory. "Partial-Birth Abortion Is Not About Abortion." Stand To Reason. Retrieved June 28, 2011, from http://www.str.org. (2008).
Life Ethics. "AMA Editorial on Partial Birth Abortion Ban." Retrieved June 28, 2011, from http://www.lifeethics.org.
Rainbow, Catherine. "Descriptions of
Ethical Theories and Principles." Retrieved June 29,
2011, from http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/indep/carainbow/theories.htm.
