Example research essay topic: Health Care Law And Ethics Research - 1,621 words

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Health Care Law and Ethics Research Paper Introduction There are two completely opposite points of view in relation to such a delicate issue like abortion. Abortion, within the frameworks of medical ethics, is often examined as intimate and personal issue that should concern nobody except the woman herself. Some ethicist's claim that abortion is nothing more than one of surgical interventions, and, similar to any other type of surgical intervention should be discussed between the woman and her physician alone. In case we try to interpret this position in other words, it is possible to formulate the following: Abortion is a medical issue.

At the same time, there is completely another point of view in relation to abortion. There is an opinion that abortion puts under doubt the concepts of morality; therefore, it is possible to discuss moral and ethical aspects of abortion within the frameworks of medical ethics. As the ethicist's claim, there is an ethical problem, and, probably, the most complicated one. They consider that before the woman makes a decision to visit a physician, the ethical aspect of the problem not only dissolves in her decision to make an abortion (Fremgen, 2005), but becomes even more complicated, as the third party gets involved into the woman's decision about abortion. According to the ethicist's, the surgeon, who makes an abortion, can be accused of a criminal complicity, because, in contrast to any other surgical intervention, this operation has its aim to deprive a human being of life, to kill a defenseless person, who has n o rights and strength enough to protect himself. Taking into consideration these complicated ethical extremes, there is a necessity to examine abortion within the frameworks of medical ethics, exploring collisions and contradictions related to this issue, along with careful examination of all existing points of view, ethical approaches, evaluations, and positions.

Medical Ethics and Abortion Abortion is the subject of heated debates for more than twenty years. The issues related to abortion, ethics and morality are often discussed in the modern world. The so-called western-type ethics becomes the priority (Dworkin, 2004). American and European ethicist's are, probably, the best scientists, who provide the most reliable and comprehensive research concerning these issues. Numerous theories and concepts of the modern medical ethics are focused on assumption that abortion involves ethical issues. It is interesting to note that irrespectively of the fact, which specific position is peculiar to a peculiar ethicist, all of them managed to make very important contribution into medical ethics related aspects.

It should be taken into account that before there was no evident support to this issue - all these ethicist's offered a completely new approach to abortion, as they made the world society to have a new vision in relation to abortion - the world society learnt to treat abortion within the frameworks of morality and ethics, and to notice its ethical aspects. The very fact that the world society has noticed this new sense implied making a step in order to overcome (either conscious, or unconscious) ethical blindness, to shift from the state of tranquility and unproblematic attitude to abortion to the state of intensive antinomy, struggle for "pros' and 'cons' (Fletcher, 1979). Therefore, in order to understand the ties between abortion and medical ethics related issues, it is necessary to explore the arguments 'pros' and 'cons' in order to establish a defense, to ground claims on facts, or to substantiate the issues related to abortion, and its admissibility from the ethical point of view, along with examination of the cons' arguments aimed to prove immorality and unethical nature of abortions. The analysis of different points of view on understanding of medical ethics in general and bioethics in particular witnesses of the fact that comprehension and understanding of a progress in medicine, biology, and other sciences will be impossible without an intensive labor of ethical way of thinking. Medical ethics, while facing new scientific discoveries and achievements in these branches of sciences, is also subjected to numerous changes. Never before has medical ethics been captivated so much by the concepts of ethical problems of abortions.

The modern society, despite its well-shaped moral and ethical way of thinking, has never had to think over such complicated issues related to abortions, cloning, transplanting, ethical aspects of dying with dignity, and many other important issues. There is an opinion (as it was claimed by Jerald Leech) that the all these issues were the result of so-called technocrats, who succeeded in manipulation by life, death, organs, embryos, and genes (Humber, 1991). The world is still unable to fully perceive and understand all unforeseen consequences of these discoveries and achievements. In order to achieve understanding, the mankind will, probably, need to broaden the limits of medical ethics, and to develop new branches in its structure as a science. At the same time, these new interventions will be unable to guarantee that unstoppable progress in these sciences never moves ahead of medical ethics (and health care law, as well). It is important to understand that physicians, surgeons, biologists or ecologists more and more often face new challenges and problems of ethical choice alone, when they have to rely on their own conscience alone.

However, it is incorrect to make these scientists and surgeons responsible for the consequences of their ethical choices, because the subject at issue relates to the most important ethical and moral values, and, probably, even to the destiny and future of the humankind in general. Medical ethics and bioethics made people critically evaluate existing levels of ethical and philosophical theories. Such fundamental concepts like life, death, human being, human personality, right for life, sense of life, right for death, and many others turned out to be devised insufficiently. The medical ethics and philosophy remain the only sciences able to intervene into the biocratic intention to equalize between what is, still, technically admissible, and ethical. Naturally, it will take time in order to develop and implement final decisions, however, the scientists continue their search and attempts to find best possible solution to the ethical aspects of abortion. In this relation the attempts to develop some sort of generalizing concepts, and integral bioethical theories become especially important.

The authoritative journal "Hastings Centre Report" consistently traces such attempts. The theory of one of the well-known theorists Hans Jonas is, probably, one of the most substantiated and reliable concepts of this kind. In 1984 Hans Jonas published his Imperative of responsibility in search for ethics for technological era. In this study the scientist tries to find the answer to the question about medical ethics its adequacy to the modern technological civilization (Dworkin, 2004). Old traditional ethics more and more often is claimed to be unsuitable and inapplicable for the modern conditions, especially in what relates to abortion, the right of choice, life, and death.

There is an assumption that the modern technology provided people with knowledge and power enough to retain no precedents in standards and rules of traditional medical ethics. Therefore, old ethics requires to be changed drastically - in case in the past the normative actions of traditional medical ethics were limited by human interactions, the person had to think over the consequences of his behavior, and, to a certain extent, the person was able to foresee a certain counterbalance between good and evil, nowadays the consequences of human actions became wider. Therefore, some ethicist's claim that it is necessary to formulate new imperatives of human actions, especially in relation to abortions. This imperative should correspond to the new conditions of human activities. To a certain extent it can be formulated as follows the person should act in such as way that the results of his actions will not be destructive for possibility of life, thus not violating the conditions for continuation of life in the Earth. The substantiation for this ethical imperative may be the fact that life in the Earth is subjected to a threat (either it is related to abortion, or to the other thing).

This substantiation should be even more metaphysical, deep, and ontological. Ontological law of human existence is self-affirmation of life in general and human life, in particular (Tooley, 1984). This self-affirmation is opposed to abortion, death, and non-existence; it should have an obligatory power over all people (in its capacity to protect life). Here we come to objective responsibility in the capacity of new morality and new ethics. However, we should ask a question whether the concept of responsibility is really new for ethics. It seems that there is almost senseless to speak about ethics, in case not taking into account that people are responsible for their actions.

Indeed, the concept of responsibility for ones actions was hardly the cornerstone of philosophical theories of the medical ethics. The responsibility was rather to be supposed, or implied, like in deterministic theories of ethics. At the same time, it remained rather formal than actual. Nowadays, the concept of responsibility becomes actual mainly due to the people's capability to change and transform the world. However, in case people treat this responsibility substantially, they will come to conclusion that this responsibility relates not only to the present, but also to the future.

In this case, the responsibility will become global, as it will imply responsibility for all living beings in the Earth. In such a way, this approach will allow people to understand the unethical nature of abortions. References Dworkin, R. (2004). Bioethics? : The Law And Biomedical Advance. Health Matrix, 14 (43). Fletcher, J. (1979).

Humanhood: Essays in Biomedical Ethics. Buffalo: Prometheus Books. Fremgen, B. (2005). Medical Law And Ethics. Prentice Hall. Humber, J. (1991).

Biomedical Ethics Reviews. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. Tooley, M. (1984). Abortion and Infanticide.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Research essay sample on Health Care Law And Ethics Research