Healthcare Case Study: Perspectives on Fetal Abnormality and Ethics

This case study revolves around Jessica, a pregnant woman, and the discovery of fetal abnormalities. The scenario presents a conflict between Jessica, her husband Marco, Dr. Wilson, and Jessica's aunt, Maria, each holding contrasting views rooted in different ethical frameworks. Dr. Wilson suggests abortion based on virtue ethics, while Maria opposes it, emphasizing the right to life from a Christian perspective. Marco supports his wife, aligning with feminist theory that grants the mother sole decision-making power, and Jessica grapples with the emotional and socio-economic implications of her options. The analysis considers theories of moral status, agency, and the implications of each party's stance, ultimately agreeing with Dr. Wilson's non-moral status approach, which prioritizes reducing family burden and legal considerations. The case study references ethical theories and the viewpoints of the involved individuals to analyze the ethical dilemmas in healthcare.

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Fetal abnormality is demarcated as the physical or genetic defect of the fetus which effect
the pregnancy of an individual and have serious defect on the fetus. It range from minor
complication to serious effects which cannot be easily treated and the child dies due to disease.
The advancement in the medical technology which made it possible to detect the abnormality of
the disease. If the fetus has been detected with severe illness, abortion is suggested by the doctor.
According to Christianity, human being are the type of creature, which are created by the god.
They are both physically and spiritually connected to the god. Human beings are fundamentally
valuable and should be provided with respect and dignity as they are created by the god and is
considered as the “image of god”. This discussion will focus on the different perspective of the
human being with consideration of the Christian perspective (Stensvold, 2015).
Moral status of an individual is defined as the concept that deals with the identity of an
individual and the importance of an individual for which they are provided special regard. In
human being, it is normal as they possess rights and interests about the moral obligation which is
highly regard to the mental and physical wellbeing (Noonan, 2019). There are different theory of
the moral status such as, theory based on the properties of the human, a human based on the
cognitive properties moral agency, and relationship. The theory of moral status supported by
Maria, Dr Wilson, Marco is human and sentinent properties, cognitive properties and
relationship properties respectively.
As the child has been suffering from abnormality, there are different theories of the
abnormities that can be applied order to deal with the such abnormalities of the fetus. All the
characters of the case study which are, Maria, Marco, Jessica and Dr. Wilson have contrasting
views regarding the action taken while handling the abnormality of the patient. The whole case
revolves around the perspective of the four main individual.

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Dr Wilson suggested Jessica and her family to abort the fetus as the fetus has
abnormality. If the child is born, it can lead to extra burden on the family of the children. The
theory which governs the decision of the Dr Wilson is virtue ethics theory which is described
by Aristotle. This theory involves the twelve virtue of the model, according to which if the
abortion is performed on a golden mean it is considered as victorious action and is not mean
(Vaughn, 2015).
Maria is against the action of the abortion. She did not want Jessica to abort the fetus as
according to her each and every individual has been created by god and has a right to live. The
theory which supports the decision of the Maria, is focused on right to live. According to the
theory, fetus has been created by god and is considered as a human being and aborting a fetus is
the punishable offence (Webb, 2016).
Marco, husband of Jessica is supporting his wife and left the decision on Jessica. The
moral status of the theory of which supports the marco’s decision is based on theory of the
feminism. According to this theory, mother have more right on the children and hence have the
whole right to solely take a decision (Stensvold, 2015).
The last Person is Jessica. Jessica is extremely upset with the news. She was confused as
she wants to take the child due to her emotional attachment as well as want to abort the child
because if the fetus is born, it can impose socio-economic burden on the family. The theory
which describes the perspective of Jessica is theory of feminism, where she has the sole right to
take the decision, however she is confused (Ross, 2017).
According to the condition each and every individual (Maria, Marco and Dr Wilson) have
to involved in the moral status of moral agency. Theory of the moral agency is define as the

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ability of an individual which help in making the moral judgment depending upon the right or
wrong of the situation and the moral agents are referred to the individual who are able to make
moral decision. The theory states that any individual must not interfere as the person taking the
decision has relationship with the individual (fetus in this case) (Ewin, 2019). Here the agent is
Jessica and she has the whole right to take any decision and no one should involve in the
decision as the moral status have rights and value which helps in maintaining the dignity and
value of the human being.
By considering the moral theory of each and every individual, I agree with the theory of
Dr Wilson which focuses on the no moral status theory. According to him, it is better to abort a
child with disability. According to him, decision related to the abortion of the fetus is logical
conferring to the medical science. It does not mean that any fetus can be aborted, but for the
abortion there should be a genuine reason.
This theory helps the individual to make a choice on their own and with the help of this
theory conflict among the family member can be reduced or avoided. If the child is aborted, it
will eventually reduce the economic as well as the mental burden to the family. It is also legal
terminate a child within 24 weeks of the pregnancy.

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References:
Greiner, A. L., & Conklin, J. (2015). Breaking bad news to a pregnant woman with a fetal
abnormality on ultrasound. Obstetrical & gynecological survey, 70(1), 39-44.
Noonan, H. W. (2019). Personal identity. Routledge.
Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton &
Company.
Webb, P. (2016). Down Syndrome, the Image of God, and Personhood. Dialogue & Nexus, 3(1),
14.
Stensvold, A. (2015). A history of pregnancy in Christianity: From original sin to contemporary
abortion debates. Routledge.
Ross, L. J. (2017). Reproductive justice as intersectional feminist activism. Souls, 19(3), 286-
314.
Ewin, R. E. (2019). Virtues and rights: The moral philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. Routledge.