Abortion is an ethical issue that does not only affect the front line nurse but the society as whole. Abortion is defined as the elective termination of the pregnancy or expulsion of the uterus of fetus or the embryo resulting in or caused by its death abortion. Studies show that 1.5 million abortions takes place every year in the United States. The mare mention of the word abortion evokes different feelings and sometimes very heated discussions. Ethical beliefs play very major roles in abortion debates. There are those who believe that life is sacred and should be treated with the dignity it deserves and are called pro life. The advocates of pro life believe that abortion is immoral and an ethical and constitute to murder and that anyone who participates in abortion is an agent of evil and deserves to die. Abortion can sometimes be forced upon women who were put in a situation that they couldn’t control, and that situation can be the deciding factor in whether it is considered ethical or unethical.
Abortion is not new in United States. Evidence shows that it started way back in the 1850s. Though law professors, and judges as members of the American law institute proposed a “model penal code” calling for abortion to be legalized where substantial evidence showed the physical and mental danger of the mother and /or that of the child or in situations where pregnancy have been caused by an act of rape or incest.
On one opposing side, is the group of people called pro-choice or pro-abortion. These individuals believe that the mother has the autonomy to decide whether to carry the baby to a full term pregnancy or to terminate it at will. These individuals argue that putting restrictions to abortion is reducing women to baby making machines and interfering with their freedom of choice and undermining the bill of right. Both proponents of abortion are protected by the Constitution when it comes to making their...