Bioethics: Pregnancy, Abortion, and the Fetus
Ethical Dilemmas and Debates
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What are ethics? What is morality? How can one behave in a moral manner? These are among the most difficult and most interesting questions which face people of any age. Today, however, with advancing technology, difficult moral situations come upon us faster than we can even create the questions, much less find the answers.
This guide offers selected essays that address both general issues and specific questions in the area of moral philosophy as it relates to pregnancy, women's autonomy, abortion, and the status of a fetus. Some of the most rancorous and divisive debates in modern science either touch upon or are tied up with these issues. A better understanding of them can be aided by a detailed examination of some specific moral dilemmas that have arisen. Reasoning through moral problems is often best learned by observing and doing.
Artificial Wombs: the End of Natural Motherhood?
Some day - probably later rather than sooner, but you never really know - medical science will advance to the point where we can create artificial wombs. This would allow us to grow a fetus outside of the mother's body - but should we?Pregnancy & Privacy
For the most part, people believe that their medical issues are and should remain private. The status of your health is not something that should be made public record or revealed to anyone not involved in your health care (like doctors, nurses, and insurance companies). But does pregnancy qualify as a health matter that should be kept private? Perhaps it should, but there are many who have argued that it does not.Drug Use & Fetal Abuse
Should women who abuse drugs while they are pregnant be charged with delivery of drugs to a minor and child abuse after their baby is born? There is an increasing movement among prosecutors and conservative politicians to do exactly that, leading to growing numbers of women who are charged and convicted of child abuse which occurred before their child was even a part of society.Gender Selection
Should parents be allowed to select the gender of their child? Would it be ethical for people with fertility problems to choose which fertilized embryos get implanted and have the rest discarded as being the "wrong" gender? According to a group which establishes ethical guidelines for fertility clinics, the answers to those question is "Yes."
Glossary: Religion & Philosophy
This extensive glossary provides detailed information on philosophical and religious concepts, from
abandonment to
Zeno of Elea!
(over 2400 entries total)
