Philosophical Analysis: Abortion and Euthanasia Moral Dilemmas

A philosophical analysis:
Issues of Abortion and Euthanasia and the moral dilemmas surrounding it
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Analysis of ‘If these Walls Could Talk’
The movie “If these Walls Could Talk”, revolves around the personal dilemma and mental
conflict of three different woman dealing with unplanned pregnancies. The movie focuses on
three different segments, portraying three different cases where the women are seen dealing with
the same situation, 22 years apart. This 1996 film emphasizes on the controversies regarding the
ethics and morals behind abortion and how it has evolved throughout the years. It also shows its
audience the varied reasons behind why women consider undergoing abortions and why they
decide against it. The moral lesson concerning abortion for each of the three segments are as
follows:
1952 : The first part of the movie depicts the story of a nurse, recently widowed, dealing with an
unwanted pregnancy. The fear of the social humiliation, she and her in-laws would face, she
turns to a highly unprofessional practitioner. Due to the poor execution of the procedure, she
eventually bleeds to death. On the practitioner’s part, he was unethical and immoral in his
approach, as after he successfully terminated the pregnancy, he did not provide her with the
necessary post-surgery care. Being a nurse, she should have known better than go to an
unprofessional practitioner. Like her sister in law suggested, she could have moved somewhere
else and had the child, rather than opting for an unsafe procedure with no assurances. The
thought of being socially scrutinized and for being exempted by her in-laws, she took such a
desperate action, without thinking much of the consequences. This fits the statements made by
the ‘pro woman’ anti-abortion arguments, where they state that the women are obligated to
undergo unwanted abortions to satisfy third party opinions, even if it causes them emotional and
physical distress.

1974 : This segment portrays the story of Barbara Barrows, who is a mother of four children, and
a passionate student who has recently resumed studies. She is hesitant to opt for abortion, as this
goes against her beliefs, but is also forced to consider it due to the advancement of her career and
also due to the lack of funds to support another child. Throughout this segment, her daughter, her
friend and her husband are seen to constantly try and influence her decision on the abortion. The
story ends with her making her own choice of keeping the baby. Here, the audience can see how
her eldest daughter, who was supporting her decision to abortion, is the very reason she changes
her mind. When she sees her daughter, she immediately realizes that there is a life growing
inside her, and that killing it would be just like losing any of her other four kids, which would
adversely affect her mental health.
1996 : This last segment of the film shows a college student going through with the same
dilemma, after being impregnated by her married college professor. After being offered some
money from the professor, out of rage and confusion she decides to undergo an abortion, despite
her friend trying to influence her decision on keeping the baby. This reason alone is not
justifiable enough to terminate a pregnancy. Thus the doctor as well as the abortion clinics
should have had counseling sessions before they carry out an abortion. The student too should
have thought about it before taking such a drastic measure, which could gravely affect her for
life. However, the main focus of this segment was to highlight how people might behave or react
to someone undergoing or practicing abortions.
How does deontology either support or challenge your interpretation?
Deontology includes the assessment of the morality of the action under certain rules, and is not
based on its consequences (www.allaboutphilosophy.org, 2019). The movie doesn’t demonize